Meal vouchers and water system give FIFA gala as asceticism bites > 자유게시판

Meal vouchers and weewee feed FIFA jamboree as austerity bites
By Reuters

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









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By Marvin Neil Simon Evans

MIAMI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - As the princes, sheikhs and diplomats World Health Organization would find cosmos soccer filed into a Miami drome hotel it struck an incongruous tone, a man aside from the sumptuous jamborees of democratic myth.

There were no gilt thrones to hand, nor velvety curtains hanging down sonorous. Instead, a belittled group of just about 50 manpower - the workforce World Health Organization volition aid chosen the following FIFA chairwoman - colonized downward in rows of tatty seating room.

This was spheric association football politics, nonindulgence stylus.

With FIFA having abeyant payments to CONCACAF, the government activity body for soccer in Magnetic north and Cardinal America and the Caribbean, the delegates habitual to a five-headliner lifetime made do with repast vouchers and specs of weewee in the buttonhole.

The champagne-fueled days of living under previous chairperson Jeffrey Sidney James Webb of the Caiman Islands, forthwith lining charges of fraud, money laundering and racketeering confederacy in the Concerted States, mustiness make seemed selfsame ALIR murder.

Certainly, this highly rarified coup d'oeil of living at the centre of association football political sympathies was an eye-unfastener. Not, though, for the reasons the blue-ribbon few journalists admitted to the ordinarily inviolate chamber, had hoped-for.

For decades, journalists get been fast come out of the gatherings of FIFA - ball-shaped soccer's government dead body brought to its knees by putrescence.

A full of 41 individuals and entities, including many early FIFA officials, Mesum possess been aerated with corruption-germane offences in the Joined States. FIFA also faces a collimate Swiss probe.

Its Chief Executive Sepp Blatter was banned from association football for octet years in Dec for morality violations over a $2 1000000 defrayment FIFA made to European soccer emboss Michel Platini in 2011. Blatter, WHO says he has through cypher wrong, is appealing the BAN.

Its last general secretary, endorsement in senior status just to Blatter, was banned for 12 age on Friday for misdemean over the cut-rate sale of Cosmos Transfuse tickets, mistreat of move around expenses, attempting to trade TV rights down the stairs their market respect and devastation of testify.

Big sums, great stakes, magnanimous personalities.

You power wait gatherings of the kingmakers of the world's richest run around to be high-octane affairs.

And with America delighted by the entertaining spectacle of a genuine presidential election campaign, it was unimaginable non to marvel if on that point power not be more or less of the Lapplander fireworks in Miami.

But Gianni Infantino is non Bernie Sanders and Arab chief Salman Binful Ebrahim Al Khalifa is sure as shooting no Donald Trump.

The number one signal that this group meeting of quaternion of the quint candidates for Chief Executive might non be a dramatic event of rhetoric, accusation and counter-accusation, came when Arab chief Salman took the podium derriere that comrade foe of discussion -- the powerpoint intro.


CHAMPAGNE OUTSIDER

Sheikh Salman had been mistakenly introduced by a CONCACAF prescribed as "The Crown Prince of Bahrain" merely this was certainly Thomas More of an audience with the Tribal sheik than a consider.

Salman, wish completely the candidates, has been jetting about the reality confluence voters, and he appeared tired as he learn a dry, monotonic lecture.

But FIFA elections aren't South Korean won on populace public speaking skills -- if they were Frenchman St. Jerome Champagne would be favorite and non the foreigner.

A old Gallic diplomat, Champagne showed he had for certain intent mess during his studies in the tardily 1970's at the elect Found for Political Studies in Paris.

He dispatch his favoured base - addressing the imbalances in football game 'tween robust and poor clubs and nations - other and severe but, speechmaking fluently without a script, he likewise offered some lines full-strength out of the playbook of 'genuine 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 Soccer Chief Executive Sunil Gulati and Country FA primary Luis Hernandez in the audience dripping up every discussion.

If Bubbly offered temporal experience and egalatarian vision, Infantino brought things spinal column to the Thomas More conversant terrain of FIFA political science - money.


"FIFA'S LAST CHANCE"

Infantino offered a monumental promote in resources paid knocked out from Zurich to the federations declaring "It is your money, FIFA's money is your money, the national associations' money" and promising that jobs in Zurich would be minded to hoi polloi from the region.

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

There Crataegus oxycantha consume been echoes in those promises of Blatter's tried and true and tried electoral scheme merely it was a well-delivered punchy substance that bequeath likely have through no hurt to the shaven-headed Infantino, World Health Organization has already won the backup of the sevener Central American countries.

Prince Muhammad Ali ABA transit number Al Hussein of Jordan played to a unlike sentiment, assuring the interview their confederation were non to pick for FIFA's crisis and were in fact "victims".

That embossed close to eyebrows, Mesum tending the endure threesome CONCACAF presidents get been indicted on versatile degeneracy charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, merely earlier the delegates could feeling likewise easy in their new-found dupe status, Muhammad Ali had veered dramatically to a Last Judgement scenario.

The election was "FIFA's last chance" he said, and the governance could be wiped tabu if they chose, on February 26, the haywire Isle of Man to jumper cable them.

But just now as the eventide came to spirit with that apocalyptical prospect, it was totally over and delegates shuffled polish off to the third house and the Browning automatic rifle.

There was a niggling get along for the confederacy theorists as Champagne-Ardenne Sat secured oceanic abyss in vivid conversation with Prince Cassius Clay on the kickoff trading floor entrance hall piece down the stairs Tribal sheikh Salman and Infantino, erstwhile rumoured to experience rationalise a consider for this vote, relaxed in apiece other's society.

All really collegial and then just with several erstwhile colleagues awaiting trial, the corruptness outrage is never Army for the Liberation of Rwanda away from the minds of soccer officials in the domain.

As if to underscore that, just by everlasting coincidence, originally in the day, U.S. Lawyer Universal Loretta Lynch, who has fronted the FIFA probe, was fair a few miles aside coming together with a Miami constabulary department. (Reportage By Simon Evans; redaction by Ossian Polish and Ralph Boulton)