By Don McMahon
Well the house of cards that was FIFA, EUFA and perhaps, soon the English FA seems to be finally tumbling down around their corrupt ears. Let us NOT forget that this is a tragedy for the Beautiful Game and we are the victims of this perennial fraud! The tragedy lies in the fact that, among other things:
1) These revelations are just the tip of the iceberg, it being almost certain that there will be far more serious and damaging allegations, charges and legal consequences to this nest of vipers’ shenanigans. It is my firm conviction that we will see the entire corrupt framework that underpins FIFA, EUFA and eventually the FA and we will be astonished by the depth and dementia of these events and their nefariousness.
2) Our game, that we ALL adore, has been sullied and brought into disrepute, worldwide, by a pack of avaricious jackals whose sole interest was and is their pocketbooks.
Thank God for people like Tony and Walter, who together have valiantly taken the lead in exposing the numerous abuses, questionable behaviour and rampant hypocrisy at FIFA, EUFA and especially the FA and the PIGMOB.
3) There is a pathetic and fatal lack of leadership from the stuffed suits at FIFA, EUFA and particularly the FA that bodes ill for the future of OUR Game. We cannot even be sure who is suitable and fit for taking the reins at FIFA, as the multi-headed Hydra that is Blatter and company, struggles to regain control of their lucrative golden goose, aided and abetted by their cronies in FIFA and EUFA.
4) The UK media and many supporters of Football are still willing to close their eyes to this BS and these machinations, which is a worrying sign.
Far too many are silent or have abandoned the struggle long ago. Let me remind everyone within the worldwide readership of Untold, that if we collectively bury our heads in the sand, men like Blatter, Platini and Dyke will eagerly fill the vacuum created.
We got 100,000+ signatures against the PIGMOB’s blindness to Dean’s cowardly incompetence….we need 100,000,000 voices raised against the dinosaurs at FIFA, EUFA and the FA so that the Beautiful Game can finally be dragging, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.
5) We still have the PIGMOB and head swine Riley to deal with….again NOT a promising sign for the future. It pains me deeply to criticize fellow officials BUT, based on UA’s pragmatic, detailed and profound analysis of the tribulations the FA and its minions in the PIGMOB have inflicted on the Arsenal, there is but one conclusion I can come to…..things need to change dramatically if the Game is to survive.
6)Despite having more than 100,000 signatures to remove Dean from the Arsenal calendar, the corrupted PIGMOB AND FA have totally ignored this issue and indeed have reveled in appointing this incompetent to recent EPL games, all the while ignoring the daylight robbery that occurred at Chelsea.
I have a depressing scepticism and disheartened pessimism about whether anyone in England is actually listening and planning concrete, specific and in depth intervention to wrestle back control of the Game from these villains.
I have, to a lesser degree, the same negativism towards the ongoing investigations the FBI and Swiss authorities are undertaking. I pray to God that my views will be proven incorrect and that we will see the entire septic, toxic and rotten greedy dung pile that these organizations have become, revealed for all to behold and decontaminated for the wellbeing of the Beautiful Game.
We are far from being out of the woods, but there is light at the end of the tunnel finally.
We all want to see the current corrupt leaders at Fifa, Uefa and the Pgmo go to where they belonged which are the prison houses and self imprisonments for those of them that escaped jail terms. All form of racketeering in football administration across the World MUST henceforth seize to exist. Sepp Blatter’s Fifa caused all these corruptions in football which descended down to the FAs around the World. If the head is corrupted, that corruption will gradually spread to every part of the body. The corruption we are hearing at Fifa has almost turn football admini’ into a mockery and the officiating of the game has gradually followed that mockery pattern. Whatever reforms are done at the major football headquarters in the World must so be done to avoid a repeat of the scandal of Blatter & co. All the loopholes that made corruption possible for some of the Fifa executives to carried it out must be totally blocked during the reviewing the old laws and the adopted version of the new laws. What is the outcome of our petition that we signed to have Mike Dean banned from any Arsenal games? I last received an update on 21st Sep 2015 from Jamie Caesar sent to my phone from Change.org.
Complacence hurt doubly. First, it makes you accept mediocrity and malfeasance under the banner of conservatism, of preserving what had served so well and for so long – even in the face of its glaring and increasing failures.
Secondly, it tells you not to be venturesome: that either there is “no alternative to” the status quo or that the process of seeking out or implementing the alternative is messy, painful, uncertain and may end with something worse than the status quo.
As a result, we wait and wait and wait until a revolution comes along to consume all in its wake.
FIFA, EUFA and FA may be heading towards a revolution and there may be “no alternative” to this.
Roll out the cannons and take up your guns; the time to overthrow the old regime is now!
Boy, am I glad that I have always been on the side that wanted Fifa and Uefa away.
As I have said for many years on Untold: Fick Fufa!
My axe to grind is with the complicity of the ostriches and their ilk. Don’t they see what’s going on? Why there is no ground swell of protest against this soiling of the beautiful game , I cannot fathom .
Don’t people read , think and reason for themselves ? Or are most already gaining from being on the gravy train ? Well one day soon the wheels will come off ,and all those who were complicit will fall in the abyss .
I’ll still be here ,waiting patiently for better climes , while admiring the fine fauna and flora that line the path.
From Educate Inspire Change – ” ART should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable ” .
Another banner anyone ?
Sorry the Ethics committees 90 day bans are a joke. This was a committtee set up by Blatter I seem to recall. Where was the Ethics committee when all this first came to light? Where were they when the runours first started circulating? So what happens after the 90 days?
Its a joke.
George Graham was rightly sacked for taking a back hander. FIFA is corrupt from top to bottom, I wouldnt trust a single one of them. The whole things needs to be completely dismantled. That means looking at each of the confederations because thats where it all comes from. Certain Countries treat back handers, incentives or the like as a way of life – its cultural. The Carribbean,South/Central America, Africa and Asia are great examples of this. I am not isolating those countries because the fact of nthe matter is where there are huge sums of money people get tempted.
Look at the IOC. Similar names crop up and similar problems.
This is not going to be easy but if its going to work they need to find a way of making FIFA completely transparent. No idea how you do that but if they don’t, nothing much will change. Blatter and his cohorts are just haveing a laugh.
Excellent article Don – word for word voices my feelings about FUFA,EUFA,F.A’ll and last but not least PIGMOB!
I particularly relate to you statements about this bunch bring “OUR game” into “disrepute”!
I am still baffled at the hypocrisy of this bunch who proclaim and preach FAIR PLAY!
Very disappointed that the 100k+ petition will come to nothing. If 100K people gave $2 for the cause and taken on a legal team? would that get the ball rolling maybe?
The British media that prides itself on being the ‘world’s leader’ when it comes to investigative reporting remains typically quiet the news of corruption investigations going on in Switzerland.
Could the reason be because the corruption one is ignored by the corruption of another?
Apo Armani
Excellent comment regarding the ‘FAIR PLAY’ initiative. FIFA are so hypocritical, I have no doubt they are all rolling around laughing when they count their money. You do have to ask yourself how they got away with it for so long. Was this because everyone was ‘involved’ at some level and had ended up playing the game?
Personally, I have often wondered about the honesty and integrity of this game because at the end of the day people are only human. When I watched that Mike Riley 50th game I couldnt understand it. There was not one incident but there were literally a dozen that he obviously got wrong. These were not only questionable but pretty oblatant. I recahed two conclusions:1. He was bribed 2. He was biased. 3. he was so intimidated he bottled every decision against them. Irrespective of which is true, I happen to think the second and third, it shows that football results ARE being influenced. We have seen that recently where Mike Dean was found guilty of being incompetent by the FA – yet remains uncensored.
It all comes down to two things really:
1. Transparency
2. Accountability
Neither of these apply to FIFA or PGMOL and that is the problem.
proudkev – thanks!!
Thing is that – there are so many similarities between FUFA.EUFA,F.A’ll,PIGMOB and Politics/Politicians; that one can mistake them as one and the same!
They all thrive on other peoples demise (vulture-like creatures), pretend ever so well at doing all for the betterment of those they ‘serve’ – when actually they only serve themselves and those who keep them in their seats and cover up their dirty laundry.
Its ridiculous as much as its obvious!
The Mike Dean petition was soft. It should have got some airing in parliament. We need a petition to disband the FA & PGMO so that they are replaced by a transparent accountable organisation as per proudkev.
Our back yard is the FA & PGMO. WE should clean our back yard first. Perhaps an open letter from Untold to Arsenal copied to the media asking for change to FA & PGMO?
Don – a very fine article.
The problem is that in certain parts of the world the tentacles of FIFA have become intertwined with the tentacles and testicles of multi layers of politicians and media – the whole mess will try very hard to survive the present FIFA embarrassment.
While our hope is that the ongoing investigations will ensure the total corruption is exposed, the further the investigation goes the more the corrupt will try to cover up and resist – until one of the guilty turns whistle blower!
What is happening with our petition – is anyone taking it to Parliment? I note the UK media have become very quiet about it – I don’t think we have to try too hard to guess why!
PIGMOB – like it.
Pete – I like the term PIGMOB too but somehow I think it is an insult to pigs!
Powerful, emotive, precise article.
The whole thing is a joke. Would a checkout till operator in say a supermarket get away with pocketing £10 of their employer’s money? Hell no. They’d be sacked on the spot and be possibly facing some jail time for theft. Here we see the corrupt blatter and his goons paying themselves ridiculous amounts that we can only dream of, such as Platini’s 2m Swiss francs, and it’s all supposed to be ok? The silence in the media is defeaning, particularly the UK media that loves a scandal (know there have been a few articles here and there but they seem more a token than anything).
I’m surprised at the absence of an uproar from the UK media at this, given how they seemed prepared to go after Fifa after the unsuccessful 2018 world cup bid. Could it be someone realises this could suck in our dear old FA?
@colario
Your comments that the British press is all quiet about the on going revelations in FIFA and suspensions of its top guns did not take account of the exposes being published in the Times International on FIFA, World Cup voting etc since the early part of 2015.
Thank you Don for a good post helping to keep this important issue alive. On an earlier post I made the following comments but not until nearly 24 hours had passed from the original post and so fear they may have been missed. Please forgive me for restating them now.
By now there can be absolutely no doubt that FIFA and many of it’s subordinate bodies are corrupt through and through and must be completely and effectively cleansed. It is difficult to discern beyond payments like that to Platini how corrupted UEFA is but certainly evidence against others like CAFCON is indisputable.
Certainly the FA needs major investigation not least regarding our World Cup host bid and I believe the Serious Crimes squad should be charged with undertaking this because of the sums involved and the importance of football and fighting corruption for this country.
However I am a little concerned at the possible effect of this at grass roots level. The FA is built up from people who undertake the arduous chore of administration of local clubs and who simply love the game and the football club they have often been associated with for years. Frequently they will be out of pocket and certainly all at this level unstintingly give their time at no cost. The same is true of amateur leagues and county FAs. These people need our praise and support and removing the FA unless very carefully and sensitively done could damage their standing and commitment. This could be hugely damaging to the grass roots game.
Finally I feel that the root cause of corruption at FIFA is the incredible status and sums of money involved in the World Cup. To rephrase Lord Acton “money corrupts, loads of money corrupts massively”. But the World Cup final is undoubtedly the acme of football for millions across the whole world so we must be careful not to throw the baby out however dirty the bath water. Perhaps the way out of this bind might be to require all surplus money goes to country FAs with perhaps some weighting to give most to the poorest countries with the greatest potential football involvement at grass roots level. The FAs would be required to pass all the money down to the grass roots clubs for expenditure on facilities and coaching etc. The FA structure would be paid for by subscription and possibly fines.
@ Bobome
October 14, 2015 at 2:45 pm
If by ‘Times International’ you mean a section of the London Daily Times you are right.
I can only read UK papers on line. The times is not free online.
I googled ‘times international FIFA, World Cup voting’ But could not find anything.
There is an excellent investigative journalist by the name of Andrew Jennings who first investigated FIFA then wrote a book about his discoveries. The book is called “Foul” and EVERY football lover should read it.
Andrew Jennings is now working with the FBI to bring the corrupt officials to justice.
My feeling is that somehow, we need to get the PGMOL stuff together with a few “Referee Reviews” in front of Andrew Jennings. To me, he is maybe the ONLY British journalist with any sense of decency, and is not fazed by upsetting anybody.
Just a thought!
Norman14 – I second your suggestion. I would move any rock to expose these corrupt ‘home officials’.
The FA are complicit in the corruption that is being gradually exposed. How can an organisation sit through filmed evidence & not punish the corrupt officials that ignored truth. This same bunch of hippocrits charge Arsenal for failing to control our players!!! They can’t control officials, how can they even consider the control of players. The FA are not only incompetent but evil.
I don’t think these footballing regulatory bodies are entirely useless but they need to be able to be monitored by the system that installed them on the first place. I don’t see them going away but adapting to the times. I hope it favours the development of the sport.