
Sepp Blatter to quit as president amid corruption scandal - spacial
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32982449
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EnderMB
It's convenient that he steps down now, mere days after the election that
swore him into power once again. If he stepped down during the election Prince
Ali would have won. This way, Blatter can call his own election and personally
vouch for a new candidate to take over.

To me, Blatter was just the face of corruption. I simply cannot see someone
from inside FIFA being able to resolve the corruption problems, mostly because
these people are the problem. This isn't a new thing, and this isn't something
that arrived with Blatter. Some journalists have been investigating corruption
in FIFA for decades. Hell, most countries have been a part of it. It's only
surfacing now because the bribery is so blatant, and our bribes simply weren't
enough.

People will cheer and say that "we finally did it", but I cannot see anything
truly changing. The only way FIFA will change is through the authorities.

~~~
makeitsuckless
The "FIFA is corrupt to the core" argument misunderstands the nature of FIFA's
corruption.

It's only the few _decision makers_ that are relevant, it isn't like a
government where there is something to be gained by bribery on each level,
even the lowest civil servant. Unlike corruption in a nation, we are not
talking about a culture of corruption that involves millions. There's no point
in bribing just a lowly FIFA official or bureaucrat, most you can buy that way
is easier access to the big boys.

That small group of corrupt decision makers is now rapidly diminishing, and
there is not a long line of eager replacements, especially now that the feds
are looking over their shoulders.

~~~
dragonwriter
> That small group of corrupt decision makers is now rapidly diminishing, and
> there is not a long line of eager replacements, especially now that the feds
> are looking over their shoulders.

And not just the (US) Feds -- the Swiss are conducting a separate corruption
investigation relating to the 2018 and 2022 world cups, and other governments
are interested as well. Essentially, the fact that the World Cup is a big
national prestige event _and_ that past corruption has been brought into the
light means there is likely going to be intense scrutiny from all sides going
forward -- sure, for every beneficiary of corruption there are _lots_ of
losers, and when those losers are major nation states, they have a pretty
impressive ability, if they turn their will to it, to address any problems,
especially if given the convenient excuse provided by actual corruption to
prosecute.

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LanceH
I think this translates as, "Sepp Blatter can't make travel commitments
required of his position without facing extradition."

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siculars
McDonalds paired with Lime-Rita's for John Oliver. The most powerful or
prescient talking head on TV? Quite possibly.

~~~
joshstrange
His show is awesome and really hit the ground running! Really makes the
Colbert Report replacement (The Nightly Show) look terrible by comparison
(started around the same time but to be fair LWT is once a week while TNS is 4
days/week). Looking forward to other things that John will bring into the
light, I've learned quite a bit from his show (or rather his show has wetted
my appetite to do more research on topics he covers).

~~~
adevine
The thing I like so much about LWT is that some of the segments are a good
12-15 minutes long, which is an eternity in TV land. With that time, he can
actually dig into topics with more depth to give viewers a better
understanding of the background and what is happening (and still manage to be
hilarious). I think back to his bit on the supplements industry as a good
example of this.

I NEVER see this type of analysis on any news shows besides Frontline.

~~~
jonknee
> I NEVER see this type of analysis on any news shows besides Frontline.

The two things those have in common is the lack of commercials. It gives much
more time (10 more minutes in a 30 minute show!) and lets you not have to
recap after a break. It will be interesting to see how Vice's new nightly news
show on HBO will work.

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rilindo
I guess John Oliver will be drinking Budlight Lime live.

~~~
taco_emoji
Did Budweiser have anything to do with this?

~~~
404error
Not sure but he touched on something that might have struck a nerve. The ONLY
people who could do something about FIFA were the sponsors. Threaten to cut
down the money tree and change will come faster than you think.

~~~
jleyank
Offhand, the only other agency that might have sufficient weight to move
things behind the scenes was UEFA. They have the teams, the money and most of
the relevant fans. If they move in sync with Brazil and Argentina, FIFA runs
out of relevant matches.

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justinsingh
One of Taleb's tweets stated:

"From Mafia history: Feds close progressively the circle around the big fish
via associates. They get him last to avoid plea bargaining."

The circle was being closed, and hopefully Blatter will still face some
consequence while he attempts to run away from this mess.

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thrillgore
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing after they've tried
everything else.

~~~
hsod
what else did they try?

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1337biz
Just wondering - has anyone heared any other side of the story? Whenever a
story appears to be such clear cut black and white with one evil villain, my
septics radar goes up.

~~~
jacquesm
Sometimes evil villains simply are evil villains. Septics? ;)

~~~
asavadatti
skeptics?

~~~
jacquesm
One would hope. Though within the context of corruption septics might be
applicable.

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eitally
Hopefully he'll be indicted on corruption/racketeering charges anyway.

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spdy
Looks like they planned this before the election. There was no suitable
candidate who would be able to do the job that has to be done now. Now its
time to find one.

And i would be surprised if they can connect him with bribery etc. He strikes
me as that kind of person who likes power over a bag of money.

~~~
pdabbadabba
The problem with corruption is that, in the absence of careful enforcement,
you don't have to choose. Blatter has had both power and, I'd wager, a great
deal of money for quite some time now.

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wtvanhest
For an interesting take on the FIFA charges, YC's Casetext had several
articles published by Heather Lowe - Legal Counsel and Director of Government
Affairs at Global Financial Integrity:

FIFA: The Bribery Case with No Bribery Charge
[https://casetext.com/posts/xyrwas9p8swf80k9-fifa-the-
bribery...](https://casetext.com/posts/xyrwas9p8swf80k9-fifa-the-bribery-case-
with-no-bribery-charge)

Can Victims Sue for Damages? [https://casetext.com/posts/pz8uyoy048izr529-can-
fifa-victims...](https://casetext.com/posts/pz8uyoy048izr529-can-fifa-victims-
sue-for-damages)

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coob
Good riddance.

Hopefully the next president won't be another corrupt liar (Platini, Warner
etc).

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mksndz
Too bad he didnt go out with a 'bang' like former FIA prez Max Mosley

[http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1728032,00...](http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1728032,00.html)

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sageabilly
Seems a lot like he's stepping down now to avoid being dragged down later.

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dba7dba
Will Putin come to his aid?

~~~
dragonwriter
> Will Putin come to his aid?

Putin already tried to do so [0] by painting the corruption investigation as
unjust US persecution.

[0] Well, more likely tried to pre-empt any effect the investigation of FIFA
corruption would have on Russia's 2018 World Cup, but it amounts to the same
thing in effect.

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chasing
Now FIFA needs to disband itself entirely.

------
ConAntonakos
Goodbye, you slithering snake. Here is to a new generation of reform in the
FIFA organization.

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garagemc2
Thank you USA.

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phantom_oracle
In the infamous words from the handbook of Hydra:

=======================================

 _Cut off 1 head and 2 more will appear_

=======================================

Hail FIFA!

