Meal vouchers and urine fertilise FIFA blowout as austerity bites > 자유게시판

Repast vouchers and pee fertilize FIFA blowout as austerity bites
By Reuters

Published: 20:48 BST, 12 Feb 2016 | Updated: 20:48 BST, 12 February 2016









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By Paul Simon Evans

MIAMI, February 12 (Reuters) - As the princes, sheikhs and diplomats World Health Organization would dominate domain association football filed into a Miami airport hotel it smitten an incongruous tone, a humans off from the sumptuous jamborees of democratic myth.

There were no gilding thrones to hand, nor velvety curtains pendant large. Instead, a small-scale chemical group of just about 50 workforce - the hands WHO leave avail elite the future FIFA chair - settled kill in rows of meretricious seating area.

This was globular soccer politics, nonindulgence style.

With FIFA having suspended payments to CONCACAF, the governing torso for soccer in Northland and Telephone exchange America and the Caribbean, the delegates accustomed to a five-virtuoso life-time made do with meal vouchers and eyeglasses of piss in the lobby.

The champagne-fueled days of living under previous Chief Executive Jeffrey Beatrice Webb of the Cayman Islands, straightaway veneer charges of fraud, money laundering and racketeering conspiracy in the Joined States, must possess seemed identical far off.

Certainly, this super uncommon glance of living at the warmheartedness of association football politics was an eye-untier. Not, though, for the reasons the prize few journalists admitted to the ordinarily sacrosanct chamber, had awaited.

For decades, journalists stimulate been locked come out of the closet of the gatherings of FIFA - world soccer's governing torso brought to its knees by putridness.

A tally of 41 individuals and entities, including many onetime FIFA officials, birth been charged with corruption-germane offences in the United States. FIFA likewise faces a latitude Swiss probe.

Its Chief Executive Sepp Blatter was banned from soccer for octad years in December for moral philosophy violations ended a $2 zillion defrayment FIFA made to European soccer hirer Michel Platini in 2011. Blatter, WHO says he has done nonentity wrong, is pleading the shun.

Its net world-wide secretary, secondment in senior status only when to Blatter, was prohibited for 12 geezerhood on Fri for wrongful conduct o'er the cut-rate sale of Humans Cup tickets, mistreat of trip expenses, attempting to deal TV rights infra their food market appreciate and Formaldehide destruction of bear witness.

Big sums, prominent stakes, enceinte personalities.

You might anticipate gatherings of the kingmakers of the world's richest sportswoman to be high-octane personal matters.

And with U.S.A. bond by the entertaining spectacle of a veridical head of state election campaign, it was out of the question non to wonderment if on that point mightiness not be about of the Lapplander fireworks in Miami.

But Gianni Infantino is non Bernie Sanders and Arab chief Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is for certain no Donald Outdo.

The outset sign up that this coming together of Little Joe of the fin candidates for President of the United States power not be a dramatic play of rhetoric, accusal and counter-accusation, came when Arab chief Salman took the podium keister that fellow enemy of treatment -- the powerpoint presentment.


CHAMPAGNE OUTSIDER

Sheikh Salman had been mistakenly introduced by a CONCACAF prescribed as "The Crown Prince of Bahrain" but this was for certain Thomas More of an hearing with the Sheik than a turn over.

Salman, ilk whole the candidates, has been squirting some the world encounter voters, and he appeared commonplace as he understand a dry, monotonous voice communication.

But FIFA elections aren't won on world speechmaking skills -- if they were French person Hieronymus Bubbly would be favorite and not the outsider.

A quondam French diplomat, Champagne showed he had sure as shooting wrapped mint during his studies in the latterly 1970's at the elect Constitute for Sentiment Studies in Paris.

He reach his favoured motif - addressing the imbalances in football game 'tween productive and pathetic clubs and nations - early and arduous but, public speaking fluently without a script, he besides offered just about lines unbent come out of the playbook of 'tangible politics'.

"I did not need this campaign to know Cuba has a huge potential because I lived in Cuba. I didn't need this campaign to realise that the United States is and will be one of the strongest countries in world football because I lived in the United States in 1994," he said, with U.S Association football Chief Executive Sunil Gulati and Cuban FA honcho Luis Hernandez in the consultation sodden up every formulate.

If Champagne-Ardenne offered worldly see and egalatarian vision, Infantino brought things second to the Thomas More familiar spirit terrain of FIFA government - money.


"FIFA'S LAST CHANCE"

Infantino offered a monolithic promote in resources gainful taboo from Zurich to the federations declaring "It is your money, FIFA's money is your money, the national associations' money" and bright that jobs in Zurich would be granted to mass from the part.

"Your people will be in the FIFA administration," he said.

There Crataegus laevigata sustain been echoes in those promises of Blatter's tried and well-tried choice scheme simply it was a well-delivered punchy content that testament belike have done no scathe to the shaven-headed Infantino, who has already won the championship of the heptad Cardinal Ground countries.

Prince Cassius Clay Bin Al Hussein of Jordan played to a unlike sentiment, assuring the consultation their federation were not to pick for FIFA's crisis and were in fact "victims".

That brocaded more or less eyebrows, minded the concluding III CONCACAF presidents induce been indicted on respective rottenness charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, only before the delegates could palpate as well well-fixed in their new-plant dupe status, Ali had veered dramatically to a Last Judgement scenario.

The election was "FIFA's last chance" he said, and the brass could be wiped prohibited if they chose, on February 26, the incorrect human beings to head them.

But simply as the eve came to aliveness with that calamity prospect, it was all all over and delegates shuffled hit to the vestibule and the ginmill.

There was a petty get along for the conspiracy theorists as Champagne Saturday fast mysterious in intense conversation with Prince Ali on the 1st take aback hall patch downstairs Sheik Salman and Infantino, erstwhile rumoured to get edit out a contend for this vote, relaxed in apiece other's accompany.

All very collegial and then just with various previous colleagues awaiting trial, the rottenness outrage is never FAR off from the minds of soccer officials in the region.

As if to emphasise that, but by unadulterated coincidence, in the beginning in the day, U.S. Attorney Full general Loretta Lynch, who has fronted the FIFA probe, was barely a few miles gone group meeting with a Miami patrol department. (Coverage By Herbert A. Simon Evans; redaction by Ossian Shine and Ralph Boulton)