FIFA Corruption arrests.

[JoG2]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/fai-s-5m-fifa-payment-not-apparent-in-published-accounts-1.2238001

I have been following the news, yes.

There is a very big difference, even in FIFA, between profit sharing from a World Cup, and a one-off, non disclosed, discretionary payment, given on a very questionable "legal" basis, of 5 million dollars.

the 9pm rte news said it had been published. The outrage of the 5 mill is this weeks 'hate / anger' topic. What recourse from a legal battle with FIFA?  it would have been a complete non runner ...the hand ball happened on a football pitch. Sport is often unfair, you take your oil and move on. If I was running the FAI, I would have taken the money (grass roots, address debt etc) as it was either the money or feck all.

[AZOffaly]

I don't have a problem with it, in principle, but it sounds as shady as f**k. And it only came out because Delaney was try to show how he's a big man in international football. Did you hear the nonsense about his girlfriend, and about telling Blatter he'd speak to him how he liked? Such horseshit.

[muppet]

I don't have a problem with it, in principle, but it sounds as shady as f**k. And it only came out because Delaney was try to show how he's a big man in international football. Did you hear the nonsense about his girlfriend, and about telling Blatter he'd speak to him how he liked? Such horseshit.

Look at it from the FIFA side.

A team that loses a match, because a ref missed a handball, wants to sue for millions. There isn't a hope in hell that a judge is going to rule in favour of the FAI, otherwise sports as we know it would cease and fans everywhere would spend most of their time in courts. But regardless, FIFA decides to just throw €5m at the FAI to make them go away.

We haven't seen any paperwork explaining what exactly FIFA bought for this €5m. Were there specific demands or waivers sought in return? What was the process of approval for the €5m?

I think most people assume FIFA is corrupt, rightly or wrongly. But if you are connected to FIFA then you are vulnerable and if there is a transfer of money involved, then you are even more vulnerable.

This story has legs yet I feel.

[easytiger95]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/fai-s-5m-fifa-payment-not-apparent-in-published-accounts-1.2238001

I have been following the news, yes.

There is a very big difference, even in FIFA, between profit sharing from a World Cup, and a one-off, non disclosed, discretionary payment, given on a very questionable "legal" basis, of 5 million dollars.

the 9pm rte news said it had been published. The outrage of the 5 mill is this weeks 'hate / anger' topic. What recourse from a legal battle with FIFA?  it would have been a complete non runner ...the hand ball happened on a football pitch. Sport is often unfair, you take your oil and move on. If I was running the FAI, I would have taken the money (grass roots, address debt etc) as it was either the money or feck all.

Sorry JoG2 but are you reading my posts?

The link I posted was from the Irish Times website this morning, so I assume it is more up to date than the 9pm RTE news.

What recourse from a legal battle with FIFA?  it would have been a complete non runner ...the hand ball happened on a football pitch.

That is exactly my point - it was why I used apostrophe marks around "legal".

Sport is often unfair, you take your oil and move on.

I completely agree with this. But how do you get from there to...

If I was running the FAI, I would have taken the money (grass roots, address debt etc) as it was either the money or feck all.

We were not entitled to any of that money as a footballing nation. At best, fair play dictated we should have got a replay. At worst, accept the referee's decision and move on. Pointing out that it was used as an opportunity to shake down Blatter to cover stadium debt accrued on underselling overpriced and unwanted corporate seats is not jumping on this week's "hate/anger topic". Indeed that was exactly Delaney did yesterday, and look where it has gotten him. It is merely pointing out yet another embarrassing incident in a long line of them during JD's reign.

I don't think we should proud of the footballing affairs of this country playing out like an episode of the Irish RM, with John Boy playing Slipper. And then boasting about it??!! good Jaysis.

[JoG2]

didn't read the article from the IT at the time. So we agree on the legal bit. This affair isnt without mess, but we'll disagree on whether they should have taken the money and the level of outrage on social media regarding this issue.

[Syferus]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

[Shamrock Shore]

Wearing my boring aul accountant/auditor's hat I find it strange that a sum of that magnitude was buried in the accounts of the FAI.

What else is buried in their accounts? How much of our tax gets paid over to the FAI.

And has anyone mentioned D■■■■ O'■■■■■ yet? Can we blame him?

[easytiger95]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

Floating the 33rd team idea was categorically the wrong thing.

Not pursuing a replay, or considering going to CAS or somewhere like that (which would have been a threat with real teeth) was categorically the wrong thing.

Accepting a payment under false pretences was categorically wrong - putting the arm on Blatter, citing "legal" advice, which, by the way, they still haven't made public, simply makes us piggies in the same trough that Blatter presided over.

Accepting a payment which had, as a precondition for it being paid back, our success in qualifying for an international tournament, was absolutely, categorically, empirically (and every other word ending in ly) wrong. If you can imagine even one FAI administrator saying, in the aftermath of our unsuccessful campaign for 2014, "Ah shure, at least we don't have to pay back the 5 million to FIFA" then we compromised our efforts from the start. How much did the fact that we had this insurance policy for non-qualification, weigh in the decision to keep Trap for another campaign? The conflict of interest it presents is staggering.

And don't even get me started on the Aviva/corporate seats debacle that put them in this compromising situation in the first place.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/jun/05/fifa-corruption-crisis-pressure-mounts-on-fai-over-5m-payment-live

the guardian are doing a good live blog on it - the international reaction doesn;t see the green jersey argument, whether you believe it or not, and with the wave of resignations/arrests across football, Delaney has made himself incredibly vulnerable. I'd be surprised if he lasts the weekend. Someone ring the Sindo.

[AZOffaly]

I'm with you easytiger. I can't understand the notion that somehow Delaney is playing a media blinder. If anything, he's painted himself and the FAI in the same sort of colour scheme as the rest of FIFA, for no good reason that I can see other than he wanted to be the big man on Ray D'Arcy.

Even if he survives, and I think he will, it's not as if he has somehow made himself the white knight of the piece. What he has done is admit that FAI took FIFA money, on the quiet, in exchange for not pressing what Delaney himself referred to as a matter of integrity, not money.

So at the very least, he's made himself sound like a liar. And at worst he's put himself in a position where, true or not, he is going to be portrayed as just another pig in the FIFA trough.

[stew]

Greedy Irish bastards hiding ill gotten gains, nothing new to see here!!!!!

My heart sank when I heard this report, we seem to be as bad as any other bung accepting bastard nation!

[Orior]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

It depends what he did with the hush money!

[johnneycool]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

It depends what he did with the hush money!

India got £10M for developing football pitches in India, was that a bribe or was that FIFA and Blatter 'developing football at grassroots level'?

No doubt the Indian FIFA rep was a big fan of Blatters along with the other small footballing nations who have received financial assistance from FIFA.

If FIFA had did the same in England, Blatter would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Officials lining their own pockets in a very different thing to John Delaney and the €5M to f**k off into the sunset over the hand ball incident..

[Billys Boots]

Presumably Delaney's argument was that development of the game in Ireland would suffer greatly without the windfall of World Cup qualification. 

[AZOffaly]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

It depends what he did with the hush money!

India got £10M for developing football pitches in India, was that a bribe or was that FIFA and Blatter 'developing football at grassroots level'?

No doubt the Indian FIFA rep was a big fan of Blatters along with the other small footballing nations who have received financial assistance from FIFA.

If FIFA had did the same in England, Blatter would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Officials lining their own pockets in a very different thing to John Delaney and the €5M to f**k off into the sunset over the hand ball incident..

Did India apply for, and get, a grant? If so, that's sort of a red herring.

The point about this was it was passed over, on the QT, in exchange for the FAI stopping their protests about the handball (which were bordering on ludicrous anyway). At the time, John Delaney said 'This isn't about money, it's about integrity". Then he took a wedge of money to shut up.

[easytiger95]

Delaney did the right thing for Ireland. Nothing else to it.

It depends what he did with the hush money!

India got £10M for developing football pitches in India, was that a bribe or was that FIFA and Blatter 'developing football at grassroots level'?

No doubt the Indian FIFA rep was a big fan of Blatters along with the other small footballing nations who have received financial assistance from FIFA.

If FIFA had did the same in England, Blatter would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Officials lining their own pockets in a very different thing to John Delaney and the €5M to f**k off into the sunset over the hand ball incident..

But it is also very different from getting a grant for pitches. Delaney was threatening Blatter with legal consquences. Blatter caved for a quiet life. The FAI hadn't a leg to stand on and instead of pursuing a replay in a "matter of integrity" and sportsmanship, they chose to go after Blatter because their noses were out of joint over the 33rd team proposal.

As for FIFA, in no organisation, corporation, federation, NGO, charity can the president, without any oversight from the board or  accountants simply throw 5 million at a problem. It is exactly this kind of behaviour that leads to the atmosphere where corruption can flourish. Even without the other charges, in any other federation, Blatter's behaviour in this matter would be a resigning offence.