Can soccer fans worldwide just take a moment to pinch ourselves? After years of being seemingly immune to investigation despite barely concealed corruption and blatant disregard for the health of the sport that they are ostensibly promoting--FIFA is going to have to change.
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I'll believe it when I see it.
"In recent months, FIFA has hired a well-regarded American public relations firm, Teneo, to shepherd it through this crisis. It was a good decision, but one that cannot be a panacea."
An honorable organization, headed by upright, uncorrupt people, doing the right things in the best interests of players and fans, without bribery, kickbacks, and dirty dealing, WOULDN'T NEED a "well-regarded American PR firm" to shape its messaging and tell it how to divert the public's attention. PR firms and image management are the refuge of big organizations that have done bad things -- like FIFA.
An honorable organization, headed by upright, uncorrupt people, doing the right things in the best interests of players and fans, without bribery, kickbacks, and dirty dealing, WOULDN'T NEED a "well-regarded American PR firm" to shape its messaging and tell it how to divert the public's attention. PR firms and image management are the refuge of big organizations that have done bad things -- like FIFA.
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FIFA’s "biggest battle" is not "one of perception" but of structure, which grants equal votes to all 209 members. Since most represent poor and corrupt nations it is inevitable that its bureaucracy will be rich (average salary $242 K) and corrupt and that its most important decision, where to play the World Cup, will be determined by bribes rather than the interests of fans and players. The selection of a tiny, repressive, desert nation lacking a credible national team to host the 2022 Cup should have made this clear to everyone.
The solution is obvious: Europe, which supplies most of the competitive teams and the TV revenue that fuels FIFA, should, together with the soccer powers of South America and Africa and the U.S. (a TV power if not a soccer one), abandon FIFA and replace it with a new organization that awards votes proportional to a combination of soccer and economic power. Nations with neither soccer nor economic power would be welcome to join but they would no longer be able to outvote the countries that make the World Cup a sporting and economic colossus. Minor countries would of course still be able to field teams in qualifying matches. Whether to preserve the continental quota system (affirmative action) that ensures that weak teams from outside Europe or South America make the tournament at the expense of stronger teams from within those regions should be open to debate.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-fifa-employees-salary-2...
The solution is obvious: Europe, which supplies most of the competitive teams and the TV revenue that fuels FIFA, should, together with the soccer powers of South America and Africa and the U.S. (a TV power if not a soccer one), abandon FIFA and replace it with a new organization that awards votes proportional to a combination of soccer and economic power. Nations with neither soccer nor economic power would be welcome to join but they would no longer be able to outvote the countries that make the World Cup a sporting and economic colossus. Minor countries would of course still be able to field teams in qualifying matches. Whether to preserve the continental quota system (affirmative action) that ensures that weak teams from outside Europe or South America make the tournament at the expense of stronger teams from within those regions should be open to debate.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-fifa-employees-salary-2...
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My friend ANON,
You talk about abandoning FIFA ??? Just forget about that idea.
This 111 years old big house is the European baby wich make happy all the football fans all around the world. You just have to know that nothing come close to the joy and happiness that the FIFA World Cup moment bring to the fans.
If one member is not happy with FIFA, it can just leave the organisation.
FIFA may have problems, it's up to all members to find solutions and clean up the mess.
FIFA govern the sport and organise competitions. Poor or rich, big or small, you are welcome to bring 11 players to play against 11 opponent. So:
1- Granting equal vote to each federation is the ultimate and perfect democracy you can have within an organisation. IT"S FAIR.
2- The FIFA World Cup is for the all world .
Every 209 members affiliated to FIFA should have the same right to bid and host it, regardless of politics, religions, wealth, race, geography...
Football fans all around the world got used to see the FIFA World Cup event moving from one country to another, from one continent to another. Thats always the tradition.
Once again, it's a 11 vs 11 game. So forget about giving some member more power than others. The sport should remain a fair game.
One last thing, Europe is and will always be the center of the world football. With its big leagues, the Champions Leagues and the Euro.
Every year, Europe makes a lot of money. You dont have to worry about it.
Thanks
You talk about abandoning FIFA ??? Just forget about that idea.
This 111 years old big house is the European baby wich make happy all the football fans all around the world. You just have to know that nothing come close to the joy and happiness that the FIFA World Cup moment bring to the fans.
If one member is not happy with FIFA, it can just leave the organisation.
FIFA may have problems, it's up to all members to find solutions and clean up the mess.
FIFA govern the sport and organise competitions. Poor or rich, big or small, you are welcome to bring 11 players to play against 11 opponent. So:
1- Granting equal vote to each federation is the ultimate and perfect democracy you can have within an organisation. IT"S FAIR.
2- The FIFA World Cup is for the all world .
Every 209 members affiliated to FIFA should have the same right to bid and host it, regardless of politics, religions, wealth, race, geography...
Football fans all around the world got used to see the FIFA World Cup event moving from one country to another, from one continent to another. Thats always the tradition.
Once again, it's a 11 vs 11 game. So forget about giving some member more power than others. The sport should remain a fair game.
One last thing, Europe is and will always be the center of the world football. With its big leagues, the Champions Leagues and the Euro.
Every year, Europe makes a lot of money. You dont have to worry about it.
Thanks
I would suggest that Mr. Pierluigi Collina be brought into the FIFA fold in some manner. He is or has been the world's most respected referee and is an economist who makes his current living as a financial adviser (Wikipedia). The complete inability of current FIFA representatives to manage their affairs pleads for an outsider familiar with world football, but capable of a neutral perspective.
EARTH to FIFA: We already got the message..."Crime Pays".
FIFA should hire the law firms that represent large banks. Just look at the scorecard:
foreign soccer executives indicted: 18
US bank executives indicted: 0
foreign soccer executives indicted: 18
US bank executives indicted: 0
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No writer should ever neglect to mention that Carrard arrived to inject the brand of ethics he learned in the ethical vacuum that is the IOC.
With FIFA clinging to the idea of a winter WC for 2022, that means, thankfully, that a 40 team WC couldn't commence before 2026. FIFA has already expressed that getting a 32 team WC done in 30 days in 2022 will be difficult, if not impossible. A 40 team WC would require an extra 16-20 matches, depending on format, and would be next to impossible to bring in in under six weeks. A 40 team format, THAT'S what they're willing to talk about?
They've got to go, all of them.
With FIFA clinging to the idea of a winter WC for 2022, that means, thankfully, that a 40 team WC couldn't commence before 2026. FIFA has already expressed that getting a 32 team WC done in 30 days in 2022 will be difficult, if not impossible. A 40 team WC would require an extra 16-20 matches, depending on format, and would be next to impossible to bring in in under six weeks. A 40 team format, THAT'S what they're willing to talk about?
They've got to go, all of them.
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Truly, thank God that so few people in this country really care very much about professional soccer.
Yes, they care about their kids' soccer games or every four years when the World Cup or Olympics roll around--but other times, not so much.
So, perhaps in five or ten years, when FIFA cleans itself up, professional soccer in the United States can "get back to us on all that."
Yes, they care about their kids' soccer games or every four years when the World Cup or Olympics roll around--but other times, not so much.
So, perhaps in five or ten years, when FIFA cleans itself up, professional soccer in the United States can "get back to us on all that."
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PR firm, sales pitch, marketing plan? That isn't reform. As the phrase goes, if you put lipstick on a pig it still is a pig. Without competent leaders nothing will change. Getting excellent leaders is not "the other part" of solving the current crisis, that is the solution.
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"Nothing to see here—move on, move on."