Clean up Fifa

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Done, but to late to have any impact on tomorrow's vote I fear. Still the genie is out of the bottle now, the tip of the iceberg, interesting next few months.

Football is where the money is, it is corrupt from top to bottom and is very sadly short of jems such as the late Jack Walker. My own club, Sheffield Wednesday, was bankrupted by a chairman who had also done similar to another company, he was rewarded for this by being given a knighthood and placed in charge of the Premier League.

I agree football is corrupt from top to bottom and it is not just Blatter - he should go though and if re elected then I think we might end up with a break up of FIFA and the demise of the world cup

One way to fix this is if every fan stopped paying for pay tv - the money would soon dry up.

As long as fans keep spending their hard earned cash on TV and replica kits etc corruption will continue and the hard earned cash of the fans will continue to end up in the pockets of the few

Fifa only get TV money from the World Cup

It's the sponsers that have the power to force change.

Fifa makes $177m (£116m) a year from marketing deals with top-tier partner brands, which currently include Visa, Hyundai, Coca-Cola and Adidas.

The governing body does not disclose how much it is paid by sponsors, but the figures below provide a rough estimate

But is Blatter corrupt?  If he is he's a convincing liar.  But if he's not corrupt he's incompetent so you would think he would resign given whats happened, but no.

Even weirder is that apparently it's only the Europeans that think he should go, the rest of the world are about to re-elect him.  An grotesque situation.

But is Blatter corrupt?

Why would a 79 year old man want a 5th term in office?

 His days are numbered, guilty of corruption or not. No head of an organisation like this will be able to survive what is going to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Interesting piece from the BBC on the democratic vote 

Each of the 209 associations have an equal vote - so Montserrat, a British territory in the Caribbean with 4,900 residents, has the same voice as India, that has a population of more than 1.2bn people.

It's also worth noting that SFO from the UK are now getting involved after revealing that they have been carring out an investigation for several months.

I have been involved in football for most of my life, both playing it, managing it at local level and of course watching it, two of my ex team mates made it to Premiership management, but they never saw the riches that moderately talented players are showered with these days, infact many of the ex pros that I count as friends ended up running pubs in the Peak Park.

I would love to be a fly on the wall when Mr Blatter is checking his investments, I wager that they will not be representitive of his Fifa salary. Bribery and corruption is rife in many sports, David (Bronco) Layne once told me that when he was serving his prison sentence for his involvement in the 1960's betting scandal, that he could have formed a good pro team from within the prison incumbents.

I have only attended one football match whilst visiting Spain, this was a cup match between Teulada and Real Madrid reserves, I mention this because Real Madrid put two of their first team players on the bench, these guys had a kick around with the local kids during the half time break, it must have made their day, I was well impressed as my then seven years old son joined the locals on the pitch, he still mentions it to this day 30 years on, not everything is bad in football.   

And people can influence sponsors through their own direct action to call the sponsors to account via their purchasing power.

Thanks for the info Teamgb.

Fifa needs to demonstrate its capacity to not only effectively regulate and provide adequate disincentives against corrupt elements in its midst, but those at its head need to be seen to be accountable. To oversee an organisation that has repeatedly had serious allegations of corruption made against it during all too many years and continue with the status quo given the recent actions and further allegations of corruption, makes a mockery of accountability. 

Fifa also needs to protect minorities, small clubs, developing countries such as the African and Asian States, (that appear to be supporting Blatter), etc, that can benefit from witnessing first hand some of the positive influences that come from competitive sport, but within civilised boundaries and constraints that follow basic ethical values.

Surely any new candidate to head up Fifa has that agenda in mind, (it is not only the preserve of Blatter), so why isn't this being stressed by the alternative candidate? Why are we not hearing that these aspects to support minorities or developing countries can be achieved without having to resort to corrupt methods?

All sport , including football, has the potential (ironically with all its competitive elements) to demonstrate a powerful unifying force to show that regulation, where necessary and appropriate, against those intent on hidden agendas, manipulative ploys etc, has no place in a civilised society and that corruption ultimately results in destructive consequences that only benefit the few.

footballis a great game loved and played by millions of people around the globe and will continue depsite the corruption, money and the cheating that goes on during games and obviously taught by the coaches on the training ground how to cheat

sadly a lot of people are now starting to fall out of love with football and the future does not look bright for the game

as an example the FA cup final tomorrow will not be watched by as many people as did years ago, all the family used to be glued to the TV from 9am until the cup was won (talking to the players at their hotel, teams arriving at wembley, the bus routes, the quiz "who will win the cup", sweets, juice, drinks, replaying the final in the street, playing subutteo, striker etc etc) . Speaking to a few people this week and they feel the same and will not be watching, and most said the same years ago they never missed a minute of the build up and the game. Arguing which channel to watch it on BBC or ITV who was the best commentator, avoiding ads on ITV  etc etc

The new members of Fifa executive committee members are heading on stage to receive a brown envelo... sorry, a medal.

This includes FA vice-chairman David Gill, who tries to get away from Sepp Blatter as quickly as possible, but is called back for a hugely awkward picture.

It could be a short-lived stay in the position for Gill, who has said he will resign should Blatter be re-elected.

Breaking news - Blatters gone

It's impossible for FIFA to be 'straight', when governments are involved in the bribary and corruption. All that will happen is the appointment of a 'new' figurehead who can be blamed the next time the brown stuff hits the fan. Could it be that Nelson Mandella was aware of the underhand dealings that secured the World Cup Finals for South Africa?

Anyone who knows anything about professional football is aware of the plethora of brown envelopes that are involved when a player is signed. I hasten to say that Sepp Blatter has been a very good figurehead of a totally corrupt organisation, it amuses me that people are shocked to discover that football is as bent as a bottle of crisps, whilst totally accepting that the world's banking system is the same. 

The saying, "Money corrupts" has never been more accurate!

Where ever money is involved there is likely to be corruption of some sort fairly close by, sadly!

Sad that money has become involved in so many "Sports".

Hence the increasing need for accountable independent effective financial regulation, wherever corruption rears its ugly head.

By accountable I mean via transparent structured monitoring mechanisms visible/accessible to Jo public.....

Most people nowadays recognise the world's Banking system needs regulating, but sadly most dont believe its achievable. Only by Jo public speaking out, campaigning, analysing and replicating best practice etc will headway be made, but it's a slow process that will only be achieved when its recognised by those in power that corruption is a cancer on civilised society... a downward spiral if left unchecked. One step at a time and all that........

Perhaps "they" will come up with some form of independent regulatory body to oversee FIFA's finances?

Independent regulatory bodies are naff, it was tried in the financial services industry and failed to stop one bent IFA from running off with client money. I reckon that 'set a thief to catch a thief' is the best course of action, there are many bitter ex football club employees who would love to shop their former employers.

I was sat directly infront of the incident involving Paolo Di Canio and Paul Alcock, Di Canio had cost £4.5million from Glasgow Celtic and was transfered to West Ham for the knock down price of circa £1.5million, everyone knows that this was a bent deal, but our chairman Dave Richards, after leaving SWFC in dire financial circumstances was made chairman of the FA Premier League and awarded a knighthood, the mind boggles.

"By accountable I mean via transparent structured monitoring mechanisms visible/accessible to Jo public..... "

I dont remember that being the case with previous financial regulation where culprits purposefully hid behind complex financial structures and rhetoric to adhere to compliance within the financial industry was anything but true compliance.....make regulation more transparent with effective structured reporting and monitoring procedures in place that cannot be hidden nor manipulated, so that those without hidden agendas and sufficiently knowledgeable can investigate and have powers to act, without hindrance or political interference/persuasion.

Accountability also requires that Jo Public be far more proactive (and/ or those legally representing them ) and pressure those who are responsible for effective regulation by whistle blowing, documenting findings, etc and placing evidence/ first hand knowledge on written record for public viewing, so that those responsible for regulating cannot remain in ignorant bliss or suggest they had no knowledge....

Regulation in itself needs to be tightened up by a far more effective workable and structured approach with accessible organised reporting mechanisms in place so that the general public (those sufficiently concerned on these matters) are better placed to review the realities.

Its called transparency and its sadly lacking in existing regulatory structures. Its reform of those regulatory bodies that needs addressing - surely not inconceivable in this day and age.

Alberto Salazer in drugs controversy now, is all sport bent?  

Jack Warner is about to tell all in order to save himself, England (IMHO) should rule itself out of making any future bids to stage the World Cup until the corruption is brought into the open. I well recall watching World Cup matches at Hillsborough in 1966, when I was proud that England was hosting the competition, if we were miraculously awarded the World Cup finals now I would conclude that we had bunged the most brown envelopes to the despicable ones.   

Well on that basis we may not be playing for a while!    But how do you ever know?  The present system is daft and lends itself to corruption.  Rather than too many fat cats the guys who decide should be a far smaller number of big name ex-footballers, managers who are more likely to care for the game and have a reputation to protect.

Also it would be good if they all had to openly cast their vote and give reasons for their decision in a transparent manner.  For example - voting for Qatar would take some explaining!

But you've gotta say that the Americans are doing a superb job in bringing it into the open and sounds like the guillty will go down for a few years.