This FIFA shit question
 

Who in the United States was hurt by this FIFA bribe scandal so that the US government had to spend probably tens of millions of taxpayer money on a global investigation?

Isn't FIFA a private business? What's wrong with payoffs for favors in a private business?

I haven't followed the story but I believe anybody who cares for US Soccer was hurt by this scandal. The US not getting 2018 and UK not getting 2022 hurts American soccer. The last world cup was a massive leap for the US Soccer movement. Having 2018 in the US would have been a huge boost to that momentum.

i was also trying to understand this better recently and the best summary for me was:

“The United States can assert jurisdiction if the ‘acts’ occur in the United States or there are substantial ‘effects’ of acts outside the United States [are] within the United States,” he told Sputnik. Zagaris referred to the use of U.S. mail and wires for meetings and the role of the U.S. financial system “to make and invest some of the bribes” as potential triggers for U.S. jurisdiction, including American money laundering laws.

Zagaris said that several U.S.-based organizations are involved, including a sporting clothes company (we assume it is Nike, which is based in Oregon) and FIFA’s Latin American subsidiary, CONCACAF (based in Miami Beach).

A third reason for U.S. involvement is that bribes allegedly made in connection with the 2022 World Cup had a direct impact on the U.S. because the U.S. was among the losers to Qatar for that designation.

Switzerland May be Venue for FIFA Corruption Case's Legal Proceedings / Sputnik International

You probably would have got the 2022 WC.
And that means alot of money.

And you probably spent alot of money submitting a bid.

I think US was up for 2018 but QATAR got it

Yeah, fucking world police. no jurisdiction at all, ridiculous.

does any nation or country have jurisdiction to sue FIFA?

if so, which?

however - in this case I applaud it

and btw - not the FIFA is sued, individual people are investigated for corruption that used the US banking system to funnel money to their accounts. therefore...

Wouldn't it be appropriately argued that everyone is hurt when corruption and bribes are the norm in such a massive organization which affects everyone who is either a fan or participates in competitions?

yes, the proper word is indicted, not sued.

nevertheless, you get my point, is there an appropriate nation to indict FIFA bros?

Also. I don't know the facts but if the Americans that were involved were being investigated with proof positive that this was going on, the other charges were more a matter of procedure as it was shown they also broke US law as participating parties to the crime. You can't charge 1/2 of them and not the rest.. or try in court those who paid bribes and not those who accepted bribes.

Nation where FIFA is headquartered?

Poor John Oliver - I hope he finds a way around of what he promises at the end of the video :(

and once again - the FIFA is not under investigation, it doesn't matter where they are located.

individual people broke US law (allegedly) and Switzerland has an extradition treaty with the US - that's why they were arrested in Switzerland.

makes sense to me, i wonder why they've never done it.

2018 was always going to be Europe. Qatar got 2022.

I think FIFA is a charity rather than a business.

tens of millions is a tiny sum of money given the positive exposure a country could obtain by finally tackling FIFA (pardon the pun).

My bad. you are right.

I think they just tried to measure cocks with the Ruskies to see who's got a bigger one.

It's another way of America bitch slapping Russia

Just you wait and see!

Russia will be stripped of hosting the world cup in 2018 & Qatar in 2022

Regardless of the geo political reasons behind the current FIFA scandal, the entire footballing world welcome FIFA finally being forced to reform!

Thanks America! :thumbsup

My understanding of all this is that FIFA and all the bribes started as far back as when João" de Havelange ousted Sir Stanley Rous back in 1974 (because he supported Apartheid) and Sepp Blatter was appointed General Secretary at the same time. Between them for the next 20+ years they openly accepted and admitted to [commercial] bribes, with it not being illegal to do so in Switzerland until the turn of the century. Not only do the Swiss remain neutral in all wars, make chocolate and offer secret banking accounts, bribes too were happily sought.

De Havelange was found guilty of personal embezzlement of over $50m and replaced as President of FIFA by – guess who – Blatter in 1998, and the corruption continues. Blatter set about inviting every country he could find on an atlas to join FIFA and each country gets an equal amount paid each year (of a multi-billion-dollar fund just for being a member, even if their country could only muster eleven players to make a team from their island, they would get exactly the same amount as USA, Brazil, Argentina, England etc were being paid (eg the Cayman and Cook Islands. As of yet, the Vatican has yet to accept, plus the Pope is shit at football). Committee members were extremely happy to jet around the world, stay in 5 star hotels, get paid lavish expenses, and such perks attending many meetings. In return they vote for Blatter each time, one vote per country. It was now African and Asian nations holding the power, having the most members within FIFA. They were untouchable.

The gripes mainly come from the countries that ran a clean bid, like Australia's $46m taxpayer-funded bid on their 2022 tournament, yet they only received one vote, losing to a country no one had heard of or knew how to pronounce, Qatar.

Thanks to the sponsors like Adidas, Coca-Cola, VISA, McDonalds and Budweiser making waves has Blatter had to resign. Not forgetting Gazprom (who) but they have made no such threats, possibly having something to do with them being Russia's major energy supplier and that Russia is hosting the next World Cup. Read into that what you will.

The relentless witch hunt against Blatter by the British Press for decades now has not helped England's chances of getting a tournament, and the English FA chief, Greg Dyke, was the only one willing to openly offer to boycott the 2018 World Cup to get Blatter to resign, not helped by Germany, Spain and France saying they would not, with France and Spain voting for him at the recent election. Thanks to America, the sponsors and a lot of bad press, it has a happy ending – so long as an African doesn't get into the next Presidency, that would make things even worse than it is now.

It's only a game!

There's a good chance the US will get that World Cup if it's stripped from Qatar.

Russia will probably keep theirs, as Fifa's preparations are under way..

Banking and fine money is on the table... :2 cents:

"At least 31 different banks or bank branches, located in at least 14 different countries, were identified (though not charged) in the indictment—including Barclays and HSBC. There is only one instance in the reams of indictments of a bank raising any objection to a transfer request. So the case could be a big test of bank liability in such matters. The case comes at a time when regulators have sharply raised their expectations for banks' efforts to spot, monitor and report suspicious transactions. And even if banks were not knowingly involved in laundering money, they could be subject to big fines, if their anti-laundering controls were shown to be wanting."


The Economist explains: How America is pursuing FIFA | The Economist