New Year, new Fifa?

Day -905. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

2016 is upon us. It'll be the year of change and reform at Fifa, they tell us. And "they" are the candidates to be the next Fifa president- candidates who are all part of the old Fifa. Same old broken record from me, I admit, but I'll believe it when I see it.

At least in 2016 we can say the next World Cup is only 2 years away. Sounds a lot closer. But on January 1st it will still be 904 days. But who's counting......

Happy New Fifa!

Will it or won't it? World Cup in Russia.

Day -906. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

The new year will start with some of the same arguments that dominated 2015: Fifa and should it be disbanded and rebuilt; Blatter, Platini and their level of guilt; the awarding of the World Cups to Russia and Qatar and should they be taken away amongst allegations of corruption in the bidding processes. Even though Russia 2018 is less than 3 years away the question of whether the World Cup may not be held in Russia won't go away.

The website/publication "Russia Behind the Headlines" (rbth.com) asked three football officials, "Will Blatter's departure prove fatal for Russia?"

This is what Boris Ignatiev, former coach of the Russian national team had to say:
"We never let him (Blatter) down. Russia held and continues to hold many tournaments under the aegis of FIFA and we never refused to do so.
“Blatter valued this and defended us when Russia was faced with groundless accusations. Now the situation may change. FIFA may be led by a person who can be controlled, one who may let politics penetrate the organisation. If the new director judges us not on football activities but on foreign policy, Russia may lose the opportunity to hold the World Cup. This cannot be excluded."

Is this Russian paranoia (maybe justified) or just plain ignorance of the situation at Fifa? "Now the situation may change." And now it's going to be bad, Mr. Ignatiev? Fifa, and football all over the world was controlled by Blatter and his team of cohorts who went where the money was. Politics was, and still is, a sad, unwanted part of football. And maybe, just maybe Russia should be judged on foreign policy- it's policy of securing the World Cup by all means. Its' "football activities" have little bearing here. If all the footballing countries in the world kept politics out of their footballing activities the current mess may not exist.

So let's hope that there is a new "director" who does things differently. And then Mr. Ignatiev will see what happens when Fifa is run as an organisation that truly cares about football. Unfortunately the new Fifa President is going to be one of 5 candidates who are all part of the existing system. That's another argument and before that one is resolved there is little chance of much else happening.

Pavel Srnicek

Day -907. WorldCup2018

There was sad news in the football world today. Pavel Srnicek, most well known as Newcastle United's goalkeeper in the nineties, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest just before Christmas. He was only 47.

Srnicek played 49 times for the Czech Republic but unfortunately never at a World Cup as the Czechs did not qualify for the 1998 World Cup when he was the first choice goalkeeper and he retired from international football when they failed to qualify for the 2002 finals.

He did however play in the inaugural Fifa Confederations Cup in 1997 where they finished third. As runners-up in the 1996 European Championship Finals they took Germany's spot after the Germans declined to take part. Srnicek also played in the 2000 Euros where the Czechs were eliminated in the first round.

However, it was as Newcastle's number 1 that he made a name for himself. He had two spells with Newcastle, 1991-1998 and a short return in 2006-07. He was a vital part of the exciting 1995-96 Newcastle team that was 12 points ahead of Manchester United at one point but a poor end to the season saw them end up second. Nevertheless that team, managed by Kevin Keegan, lit up the Premier League and were many neutrals' favourites to win the title. I remember many nail biting, end to end matches, in true Newcastle kamikaze style, in Mach and April 1996. I watched them surrounded by Newcastle fans in a bar in Malta where the emotional highs and lows of the fans around me was as enthralling as the entertainment on the pitch. Srnicek's agent, Steve Wraith, said Srnicek's last conversation with him was about bringing that team back together (the "entertainers") next year for a charity match to mark the 20th anniversary of that oh-so-close end to the season.
"We will make that happen and celebrate this great man’s life together,” Wraith said.

Srnicek had also just visited Newcastle to promote his autobiography, "Pavel Is A Geordie". I'm sure there will be many more a Geordie who will now be purchasing that book.

Thought of the day.

Day -908. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

If Qatar 2022 is going to be held in the winter let's have Russia 2018 in the winter to counter the lack of a World Cup in the Qatari summer. Now that would be fun.

Sunday memories: Malta-England 1971

Day -909. ‪WorldCUp2018‬.

It's Sunday. That means it's time to ignore the mess at Fifa and the proclamations of TASS about how Great Mother Russia is going to organise the most perfect World Cup ever. Instead here's a little, more personal, feel-good memory. This is brought on by the excitement of Malta being drawn in the same group as England in Russia 2018 qualifying.

In 1971 England played Malta in European Championship qualifying. It was a huge event for Malta. England were not really looking forward to playing on the sandy, rocky surface at the Gzira stadium. The Maltese supporters packed the stadium and any surrounding buildings that overlooked the pitch. England won 1-0 but it was far from easy and it took a late save from Gordon Banks to prevent an embarrassing 1-1 draw. For Malta a 1-0 loss to mighty England felt like a win anyway.

In the return match at Wembley, it was a little more straightforward as England won 5-0. However, the match has one of those interesting trivia facts that you can impress your friends with. For Maltese players in that team, and supporters, it may have been more embarrassing than interesting.

For the whole 90 minutes the ball never crossed the English goal line and Gordon Banks did not make one save. Imagine a football match you have watched recently and try to imagine how ultra defensive (or plain bad) Malta must have been.

Picture of match in Malta below.
 

TASS and Russia 2018

Day -910. ‎WorldCup2018‬.
 
When better place to go for news about the Russia 2018 preparations than TASS, the government owned news agency. It must all be true as it is coming directly from the people who are running the show. It sounds like Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Sports Minister/Head of the organising committee/Fifa Executive Committee member is very generous with his time for TASS. And there is no need for embellishment. After all, what could go wrong and who could oppose all that the Russian government....I mean, the organising committee...are doing to make this event great.

Here are a few headlines from TASS recently:
"FIFA gives Russia 12 on 10-point scale for 2018 World Cup preparation in 2015 — minister." Wow!

"Russian organizers of 2018 FIFA World Cup pledge reliability of security concept." Basically, no terrorists are going to mess this up no matter what it takes.

"Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup budget final, to remain unchanged in future — sports minister." Because no World Cup ever goes over budget, and we would never know anyway.

"Sports minister says World Cup in Russia won't be affected by Blatter, Platini suspension." Sepp, who? Michel, who?

"Vitaly Mutko: No one will strip Russia of 2018 World Cup." Nobody messes with us. Those Qataris maybe, but not us.

"Russian sports minister wants 2018 FIFA World Cup to be "kind of a conciliatory factor". This is about how Russia, the land of democracy will contribute to peace in the world by hosting the World Cup.

And after all the serious stuff, something a bit more personal from our friendly Sports Minister
"Russian sports minister aims for better English skills by 2018 World Cup."

Qatar, Russia, Syria.

Day -911. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

Since it has always been my habit to link almost everything back to football imagine my suspicion when I saw this headline:
"Qatar and Russia agree on Syria peace plans".

Russia and Qatar, controversially awarded the hosting of the next 2 World Cups, coming together to act as peacemakers in one of the world's biggest current tragedies. Coincidence? Probably. But the mix of football and politics has for a while now been quite complicated, or simple, really, since there the two are so closely linked.

Further down the Platini path.

Day -913. ‪#‎WorldCup2018‬.

As I continue to work towards a resolution of my dilemma over Michel Platini's guilt versus the man he was before his association with the evil world of football politics, I suggest taking the time to read this excellent explanation of how his character traits could have led to the situation he finds himself in.

The questions about his vote for Qatar 2022 may never go away and forever be held against him and his plea for innocence. Even if no proof of him having done anything untoward is found the perception of ulterior motives may always remain:

"So it is no surprise that he also saw no problem with his now infamous meeting with the Qatari crown prince (now Emir) Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and the then French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, nine days before the World Cup vote in December 2010"
"In the air were various major trade deals, including a contract to sell Airbus planes to Qatar Air, and a prospective deal for QSI to buy PSG."
"As Blatter as been endlessly keen to point out since, it was the European vote that did most to help Qatar to victory."

And this has always been one of my big issues with his method and decisions about Qatar:
"..........Platini would make the case to a gaggle of reporters that the tournament should be played in the winter and spread across the Gulf. So just a month after voting for Qatar, he was advocating a wholly different tournament to the one he had backed."

 

Michel Platini: fall of a smooth operator who thought he played by different rules

The Platini dilemma

Day -914. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

There is an obituary, of sorts, for Michel Platini in me somewhere. Tomorrow I will put the sentences together that will re-create the childhood memories of Platini.

In the meantime it was heartening to hear Platini's dignified response today to his 8 year ban. Without the "what have I done wrong" theatrics of Sepp Blatter, Platini said he felt hard done by, that nothing was done about this for 4 years and all of a sudden he is investigated over this "disloyal payment". And he is upset, quite rightly I believe, that he has been associated so negatively with Blatter : "Whatever happens, my reputation has been sullied, I've been kicked in the teeth: I've been put in the same bag as Blatter."

And in a much more measured tone than Blatter's he has resigned himself to the fact that might be an ultimately unfavourable outcome: "I will fight. But then I'll take my responsibilities according to what happens."

Blatter maintains that if the 2022 World Cup had been awarded to the USA then none of this would have happened, there would have been no investigations and arrests because the Americans would have been happy. That's his opinion. As it is my opinion that no matter how much Platini protests his innocence the fact that he voted for Qatar in 2022, and then went so far as to go ahead with a change in the European football season to accommodate a winter World Cup will forever leave doubts as to his innocence. And therein lies my dilemma. A good man guilty of no more than one bad, maybe greedy decision, or a man of questionable choices who went one step to far with his support of Qatar?

Blatter's day.

Day -915. WorldCup2018.

Today was the day of the Sepp Blatter show, the man who in his own words will go down fighting, the man who looked like a 79 year old leader of some fringe, ridiculed political group turning up at a press conference attended by many for the entertainment value, and accompanied by his daughter ready to whisk him away if he gets too embarrassing. He did not look like one of the most powerful men in the world, not just the football world, who through his confidence and swagger up until a few months ago belied his age. His story is not over. There will be an appeal, there will be more press conferences, more denials, revelations and allegations. The only surprise will be if he decides to let it all go and slip away quietly.

Today's events reinforced my belief, and reportedly of many, that the changes needed at Fifa go way, way beyond the election of a new president and fancy manifestos using the magic word: reform. Rebuild. Start again, with new faces. That's the true reform.

The case against Platini is interesting and maybe a little sad for his supporters. Was he guilty because he was ignorant enough to allow himself to be associated, very closely, with Blatter? Or was it just one ignorant moment when he made that verbal agreement with Blatter. Over the last couple of years when Platini was strongly opposed (and very vocal about it) to Blatter carrying on as Fifa President, maybe we should believe that he was being truthful. His association with Blatter may have been over.

The conspiracy theorists may argue that he was pre-empting what was coming, that he knew the world would soon know about the "disloyal payment", and this was his way of distancing himself from Blatter. But, maybe just maybe, Platini was showing himself to be a good man, who truly beloved that football needed to get rid of men like Blatter. And maybe he deeply regretted his moment of weakness.

Maybe this is the defence of Platini born out of memories of Michel Platini, the 1980's footballer. Until we know the facts of the Ethics Committee's case against him, the memories may make for a strong defence. But only maybe.

Most beautiful team?

Day -916. WorldCup2018

It may not be World Cup related, but it is a Fifa event. More importantly Barcelona get recognition today for providing another reminder as to why they may be one of the most beautiful football teams ever. Earlier they won the Fifa World Club Cup for the third time. As ever they were an attacking joy to watch and their 3-0 win against River Plate could have been a lot higher. Not since Brazil in 1982 has it been so much fun to watch a team play football. Unlike that Brazil team, this team is actually winning something, again and again.

The three players who, especially, make the team an attacking work of art all have good World Cup stories. Messi, the little Argentinian magician, for many years now regarded as the world's best player, has had 2 disappointing World Cups where he failed to perform at the same incredible levels as his predecessor of football magic, Diego Maradona. Messi was guilty of an un-Messi like miss in last year's World Cup final where Argentina lost to Germany. Maybe Russia will be his stage to shine on. Messi scored the first goal today.

Messi's two partners in crime, the crime being the torture of opposing defenders, Neymar and Suarez were also very influential today. Suarez scored twice and Neymar had 2 assists. Suarez, if it need be reminding of, was banned from football for 4 months after Brazil 2014 for biting Giorgio Chellini, the Italian defender in Uruguay's crucial win over Italy. When he came back he had not lost any of his predatory skills, and if anything looked even sharper. And Neymar, of course, was Brazil in 2014. He was the man. And he led by example until the vertebrae-breaking tackle in the quarter final which ended his and Brazil's hopes. They were a lost team in the semi final. And nobody needs reminding of what happened in that match.

May they carry on for many more more years, the three of them and this wonderful team. And in 2018 what will they be able to do for their countries?

Mourinho

Day -917. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

What are the odds that Jose Mourinho, as of now out of work, will be managing one of the teams in Russia? He said a few years ago that he wasn't quite ready for a national team job (when asked about Portugal) because he still wanted to be involved in the daily coaching of a club side. But could this be the turning point? Maybe one more short stint and then he'll take on coaching Portugal (or England?) for World Cup qualifying. Call this an unsure prediction.

Swiss Man of the Year

Day -918. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

I apologize for two reasons. I got to this late, just about made day -918. So it is short and I mention the name which I promised not to mention today. But this is just too funny, or twisted:

"The magazine,whose editor-in-chief is considered a confident of Blatter and has defended him against corruption charges in the past, praised Blatter for his “impressive achievement,” calling him an “exceptional Swiss” and a “tireless and admirable fighter for a better world.”

http://www.politico.eu/article/suspended-fifa-chief-blatter-swiss-of-the-year-die-weltwoche/

Nobel Peace Prize

Day-919. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

Blame Valdimir Putin for my mention of Sepp Blatter today, even though I vowed to not mention the oh-so-great-one today- not to be confused with the other man in the news today, the special one, turned the happy one, turned Jose Morurinho the very unhappy former manager of Chelsea, owned by the Russia zillionaire Roman Abramovich. As an aside there is an interesting story there. Abramovich is understood to be part of Putin's very privileged inner circle. He was alleged to be instrumental in Putin becoming President. When Russia was awarded the World Cup, Putin suggested that Abramovich opens his cheque book and help pay for it.

But I definitely digress. Putin said today that Blatter should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for all the work he's done for world football. Putin also said that Donald Trump is "bright and talented".

Enough said.

Cockroaches and Blatter/Platini

Day -920. World Cup2018.

I resolve that tomorrow there will be no mention of Sepp Blatter or Michel Platini. It is very hard to escape any mention of them as their names pop up everywhere. I was looking up Michelin tyres for my car and I got as far as typing in "Mich" in google and "Michel Platini corruption ban Fifa Ethics Committee" popped up. Once I battled through that and figured that I didn't need Michelin tyres anyway (I somehow, maybe through association, had a bad feeling about them) I remembered that I meant to do some research into blattelidae and "Blatter Fifa corrupt enjoying caviar Swiss alps chalet" popped up. It's kind of fitting really since blattelidae are, after all, part of the cockroach family of insects. I will, of course, not go as far as to compare the individuals roaming the Brazilian marble-walled Fifa boardroom to the lowest level of dirty household pests. I can't because Sepp Blatter is not allowed into that boardroom while he serves his 90 day ban.

So my last mention of the Blatter/Platini black humour comedy act will be to amplify today's news that Platini has decided to boycott his own hearing in front of Fifa's Ethics Committee on Friday.  Why? Because he really thinks he has been wronged, that this is all a conspiracy to deny him running in the presidential elections. He, and his lawyers, believe the decision to hand him a seven year ban has already been made anyway.

Platini's lawyers statement: "Michel Platini … has decided not to attend his hearing at the Fifa ethics committee on 18 December 2015 as the verdict of this ethics committee has been announced in the press last weekend by one of its spokespersons, Mr Andreas Bantel, in disregard of all fundamental rights, starting with the presumption of innocence. By this decision Michel Platini means to express his deepest indignation with a process he regards as solely political and intended to prevent him from standing for the Fifa presidency."

The matter of a conspiracy against Platini seems a little odd, but, if true, maybe shows the division between Fifa, the organisation, and Fifa the federation comprised of the 209 national associations. The 209 members vote for the President and Platini seemed to be a favourite amongst many of them. It was the Ethics Committee, the same one that banned President Blatter, that banned Platini. So does Platini maintain that while he has the backing of the many of the member associations,  the members of the Ethics Committee, independent members appointed to police Fifa and ensure adherence to Fifa's Code of Ethics, have a good reason for him to not become the next President? Possibly he believes that the reason for his ban (the alleged "disloyal payment") was brought to the attention of the Ethics Committee by someone who is vehemently opposed to his candidacy. Or, maybe, just maybe, that person, or people, had good intentions and knew it was the time to put an end to the cycle of secret, backroom big money deals happening at Fifa that are destroying football.

There is a lot more to be known, much more to be investigated. This needs to be re-visited, but not tomorrow.

Blatter and the Spanish Inquisition

Day -921. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

Sepp Blatter today wrote a letter to the 209 Fifa member nations, proclaiming his innocence and going on about "honesty, fair play and respect" and values passed down from his parents. Truly classic Blatter irony. But my favourite line is this: "Never accept any money which you have not earned, always pay off your debts." It’s very easy to pay off your debts when you are so readily accepting other people's money. By the way what debts has he ever had to worry about? Blatter will face the ethics committee on Thursday and he likened the whole process to the Spanish Inquisition.

How he thinks this plea for understanding amongst his peers will help him is questionable, seeing as most of his "supporters" will jump ship to the next candidate who promises them riches to pay off their debts. The other detail about his letter, which Blatter was conscious of, is that by writing the letter he breached the terms of his provisional ban. But as his spokesman said he is more concerned about the fairness of the hearing than whether his ban should have stopped him from writing the letter. Right.

By next week this could all be over with Blatter banned and gone from football. Could be, but won't be. The appeal is probably being prepared already.

Blatter, Platini, one step closer......

Day -922. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

Another part of the Fifa saga should be over next Monday when Platini and Blatter are finally put out their misery and know that their football careers are over. This Thursday and Friday they will appear for the Fifa Ethics judge for their hearings in the case of the alleged "disloyal payment" from Blatter to Platini.

The expectation amongst those in the know is that they will both receive seven year bans. While that will spell the end of Blatter's involvement in football, I fear that Platini will not go away and will somehow show up in Qatar for the World Cup there which is in....seven years. He will just need for the ban to back dated a little bit as the World Cup is scheduled to start in November. One wishes, after his great career as a footballer, that he would just go away quietly and graciously. But going by his questionable denials when originally accused it doesn't seem likely. And with his son's suspiciously timed involvement with Qatar Sports Investments, there is good reason to believe that Platini and Qatar 2022 are not quite done with each other. That could all change if this upheaval at Fifa leads to Qatar 2022 not happening. But that's a different story, for a very different day, after Russia 2018 gets sorted out.

Big Phil! Neymar!

Day -923. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

I always feel the end of the weekend needs a happy story. This one didn't quite have the fairytale ending, but it may still happen. It's is also not directly related to Russia, or the World Cup. But is inspired by events at a previous World Cup and at a current Fifa event.

Fifa's Club World Cup is happning in Japan right now.  The European and South American champions always enter at the semi-final stage. In the quarter finals Guangzhou Evergrande, the Asian champions from China beat the CONCACAF champions, Club America. The prize for the Chinese team is a dream match againt Barcelona. That is only a small part of the stoy. Guangzhou Evergrande's coach is Luiz Felipe Scolari. Scolari may have to figure out how to stop Neymar, who was on a great goalscoing run until his recent injury. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Big Phil was the coach, and Neymar the star player, hoping to win a home world cup. It all ended in tears with Neymar leaving in the quarter final with broken back veterbrae and Big Phil slipping away into what the world thought would be humiliating oblivion after the historic 7-1 semi-final defeat.

But Big Phil is back. He is the man in China, or at least in Guangzhou. Neymar may not recover from his latest injury to play the semi-final but I am looking forward to an emotional reunion. Neymar and Big Phil had a dream together. Scolari was the coach brought in to save Brazil from what was looking like it would be a disastrous World Cup, and Neymar was to be what Maradona was to Argentina in 1986: a player head and shoulders above the limited talent around him who would single-handedly win the World Cup for his country. It didnt happen. Who knows what could have been if Neymar played in that semi-final.

Now they may meet on a football pitch again, on opposite sides. To mark the possible occassion, allow me to take you back to those crazy Brazilain summer nights.

 http://dinoworldcup.blogspot.ca/2014/06/hey-messiwhere-are-brazil.html

Busy day...slow day.

Day -924. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

Tomorrow there will be more.....sometimes life gets in the way.

Platini......gone?

Day -925. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

So no surprise that Michel Platini's 90 day Fifa ban was upheld by CAS. But of course in the surreal world of anything and anyone connected with Fifa, Platini saw a hint of victory in the ruling. When the Ethics Committee originally imposed the ban it was noted that it could be extended by 45 days if deemed necessary. The ruling by CAS today warned against this being enacted as it would be "unfair" to Platini. Platini and his lawyer pounced on this fragment of positivity:
"Michel Platini notes with satisfaction that CAS partially granted his request when it demanded that Fifa not extend his ban. In substance, he is confident that his case is solid."

Platini still belives that he will be able to campaign for the Fifa presidential post once his ban is over. And he still believes he can win. He is ignoring the fact that just before Christmas the Ethics Committee will deliver it's verdict on the charges against Platini. The widespread rumour is that he will be banned for "several years".

Regardless of the outcome and the rumours, it is another reflection on the sad state of the quality of candidates for the Fifa presidency that Platini still believes he is in with a shot.

More immediately for him, tomorrow is the draw for Euro 2016 and this will now take place without its leader. Fifa are floundering and the most powerful continental federation are leaderless. World football is not exactly a happy thing right now.

Platini....going, going.....

Day -926. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

Tomorrow's another big day. Michel Platini finds out if the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will lift the 90 day suspension imposed on Platini by Fifa's Ethics committee.

Ok, now go back and read the first sentence above in a sarcastic tone. Platini thinks if he gets the ban lifted and he can resume his campaign to be Fifa president then he has a good chance of winning.

So really tomorrow is just another episode in this ongoing Fifa tragedy. Platini thinks he can replace his buddy Blatter because he believes he still has the backing of all the European nations and many more worldwide, despite the 2m Swiss Francs he received from Blatter for work done for Fifa.

Now go back and read that last sentence with a sense of sad irony. Because even though it seems ridiculous that Platini could still be a legitimate candidate, it seems like he is no different from any of the other candidates. What's an undocumented couple of millions between friends.

Once again I plead: get rid of them all, all the candidates and many of the people doing the electing. A bunch of questionable characters voting for the one person most adept at turning his questionabilty into reasons to be voted the best choice to lead them all.

And if you want to go back and re-read that last sentence while looking for a hint of humour in the tone, there's not any.

Return of Musa

Day -927. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

An easy post needed to mark this day, a travel day with limited opportunities for thought and research. So here's a subject of earlier news attempting to make a comeback. The interesting, colourful character Musa Bility is back. Not sure Fifa could do any better if one of the other candidates are elected.

http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35056585

The non-statement from Fifa

Day -928. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

Occasionally I check Fifa's website to see what they have to say about what the rest of the world is saying about them. I wonder if there will be a statement on the lines of, "we understand there are a lot of stories in the international media right now concerning allegations of corruption and bribery involving members of the Fifa Executive Committee and that many of these members have had charges laid against them by the American and Swiss Attorney Generals. However, while we assist with these investigations, we will not comment until the investigations are completed. And as far as the supreme leader is concerned, we hope that Andrew Jennings' latest Panorama programme, aired this week on BBC, finally gets him jailed and out of our offices. We are sick of having to polish his shoes everyday, pick up fresh caviar for him in a refrigerated truck everyday, clean his Brazilian marbled conference room with a toothbrush everyday, prepare a hot tub and steam room to the exact temperature that him and Michel like sharing it at and be sure to pay attention every Friday while he lists all his exact requirements of what he is going to spend his millions of Swiss francs on that weekend".

In all seriousness though, if there is any left when it comes to the joke that Fifa is slowly becoming, the latest stories on their website are dominated by the new-ish money maker, the Club World Cup starting soon in Japan. The Russia 2018 stories are very important: the kick-off times for the World Cup have been approved by the Fifa ExCo and the panel of judges to select the World Cup mascot has been announced. Considering that there are many European countries (especially, but not only European) that doubt that Russia 2018 will even happen, it's almost like the Russians and Fifa are operating in a parallel, fantasy universe.

And again, I say, with Fifa the entertainment never stops.

Fifa version 2.0

Day -929. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

As the investigations into all the alleged corruption and bribery continues and grows, I believe the time has come for an alternative to Fifa, or at least a complete rebuilding of Fifa. The American and Swiss charges were initially against football officials not employed by Fifa, officials who sat on Fifa's Executive Committee or who represented Fifa in their continental federations or national associations. Now it has been revealed that Sepp Blatter is also being investigated. So if he is accused of acting illegally then is the organisation he works for, and heads, also involved in criminality? Blatter says he didn't know that when he was the secretary general, a payment made to the then president Joao Havelange was a bribe. Since Blatter became president and allegations of his involvement in corruption were made against him, how many of the other high ranking employees at Fifa are going to say the same thing? How far down does this inheritance, and denial, of a culture of payments and favours go?

Therefore, as a starting point, the Presidential elections set for February, should be scrapped. All the candidates are a part of this disease. Jerome Champagne was a former Fifa secretary general. How much did he know? Gianni Infantino is UEFA's secretary general. He worked closely with his President, Michel Platini, who is banned from football, and facing a long suspension, for allegedly receiving a large payment from Blatter. Surely Infantino knows a lot more than is reported. The other candidates are all officials who have worked with Fifa.

Fifa needs to bring in an outside body, or individuals, to take over the running of it-lawyers, business administrators, people who know how to run an organisation without any political involvement. It will be a bit like bringing in bureaucrats to run a country that politicians have run into the ground. So scrap the elections, put the whole place in order and formulate a system for a proper electoral system that eliminates vote buying and elects a president elected by voters who truly understand what their organisation needs.

Fifa is a huge organisation that employs many, many people who's careers should not be tarnished by what goes on above them. How far down it goes will be up to the "cleaners" who move in to decide. If Fifa as we know it does indeed disappear let's hope that the existing brains and manpower are utilised to build the new Fifa.

With every passing week, and every new investigation, there must be a dwindling number of anybody who loves football that believe that Fifa can survive. Let's start from scratch, even if this means jeopardising the chances of there being a World Cup opening match in 929 days.

From Havelange to Blatter

Day -930. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

Yesterday I mentioned ex-Fifa president Joao Havelange and how the allegations of corruption and bribery started under his watch. And, voila, in the news today....http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35007626

Joao Havelange

Day -931. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

As the debate around Sepp Blatter, and what seems like every senior Fifa official, and bribery and corruption continues it is worth remembering that he carried on from where his predecessor, Joao Havelange, left off.
"Havelange, the 96-year-old who ruled Fifa for more than two decades, was forced to resign his honorary position after the report laid out how both he and his former son-in-law, the former Brazilian FA president Ricardo Teixeira, had taken a series of bribes over an eight-year period from the now defunct sports marketing agency ISL."
 
Ricardo Teixeira, who has long been suspected of shady dealings with and through Fifa has finally been indicted on corruption charges by the US Department of Justice.
 
Also note from this report in The Guardian from over 2 years ago how long Blatter has been denying any direct involvement in any scandal.
"The central charge that has dogged Blatter's tenure – that in March 1997, when he was still secretary general and a year before he won a bitterly contested election to become president, a bribe meant for Havelange crossed his desk – is confirmed."
 
http://www.theguardian.com/…/apr/30/joao-havelange-resigns-…

More charges.

Day -932. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

 I've said it before and I'll say it again, and probably again, the Fifa tragic comedy just writes itself. Another 16 Fifa officials were charged by the US Department of Justice today with corruption and bribery. And the FBI has identified a Fifa official as being suspected of paying a $6.6m bribe in return for votes for the 2010 World Cup.

Maybe the end of Fifa is near, and actually needed. The most interesting quote of the day came from Jamie Fuller, chief executive of global sportswear firm Skins, talking to the BBC:

"The Swiss government have the capability. They have the legal rights to seize Fifa's assets.
"They can liquidate Fifa and reconstitute it in a separate form with accountability and transparency.
"The place is toxically corrupt. It's not just the president, it's not just the executive committee. It goes into the organisation"

More arrests

Day -933. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

Another fun day at Fifa but not as entertaining as another episode of "Fifa officials arrested at luxury Zurich hotel". Today it was the turn of two vice presidents, Alfredo Hawit of Honduras and Juan Ángel Napout of Paraguay to be arrested by Swiss police on behalf of the US Department of Justice. It must be quite amusing for the staff of the Baur au Lac hotel every time there is a Fifa Executive Committee. They probably take bets as the guests check in as to who will be leaving the next day in a police car.

Alfredo Hawit's arrest is even more entertaining when you consider that he was interim president of Concacaf, having taken the place of Jeffrey Webb who was picked up in the last round of arrests. Those Concacaf countries seem to be hanging on to the Jack Warner legacy of less football, more bribery.

The arrests preceded the meeting of the Fifa Executive Committee, meeting to discuss and approve the recommendations of the Reform Committee. The one reform that was not approved but put off for further discussion was the one to expand the world cup to 40 teams in 2026. The irony of this suggestion is that while all 209 members get an equal vote on something as big as who the next Fifa president will be or who will host the next world cup, only the ExCo members get to decide on expanding the world cup. This doesn't so far fetched, especially as the ExCo is going to be replaced by an elected Fifa Council. But then, get rid of the equal vote for all member associations for other matters.

More to come from Fifa, as always.

Holidays!

Day -934. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

On holiday. No time, too busy being on holiday. Just wanted to make sure the day is recorded. Another day closer.

Peace in 2018

Day -935. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

935 days. That's a pretty long time. A lot could happen between now and the start of the World Cup in 2018. The obvious changes, or the changes that we think will obviously happen, include the Russia-Ukraine situation, the Russia-Syria relationship and maybe the Russia-US relationship. The last one is changing constantly. The common factor is Vladimir Putin, ex-President and Prime Minister of Russia, now the President of Russia. It is amazing how one man can have such an influence on what goes on in the world. Whereas with other countries it is safe to say that, for example, France doesn't agree with Germany's policy decision on something, with Russia it's not about the country but one man.

And this is the country that will welcome the world in 2018. Will the world go? Of course they will, if it does indeed go ahead. Like never before do I think a World Cup is at the mercy of world politics and Fifa politics. But if football is played in Russia in 2018 the world will be watching. Because the world loves football and we all hope that Ukraine and Syria are at peace.

935 days to go. I'll be watching and hoping.

When technology interferes

Day -936. WorldCup2018

Sometimes it's just not meant to be. On the road, no Internet. But day -936 does still exist. So it has been marked.

Russia and it's friends

Day -937. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

At this rate Russia are going to have an easy first round at their own World Cup. It's not unthinkable that the list of countries not wanting to play football against Russia is going to grow by 2018. And if that is so, there will be many requests not to be drawn in the same group as Russia at the World Cup.

Ukraine-Russia is probably not going to happen for a very long time. With Vladimir Putin dragging that conflict out to suit Russia's needs a status quo in 3 years seems likely.

Turkey are now portrayed, by the Russians, as Russia's new enemy over the downing of the Russian fighter jet and the refusal of Turkey to apologise. Today, Vitaly Mutko, President of the Russian Football Union, member of Fifa's Executive Committee, Chairman of the Russia 2018 organising committee announced that as part of the sanctions against Turkey no Russian football teams will be able to engage Turkish players in the January transfer window. And no Russian teams will go to Turkey for winter training camps. Turkey won't be invited to Russia for a friendly any time soon.

The Americans? Well, it was they who started the investigations into the allegations of corruption and bribery at Fifa, which led to the call for an investigation into how Russia got to be awarded to World Cup. Putin maintains it is all a conspiracy by the Americans to have Russia removed as hosts, all because the Americans are jealous. Depending on what happens with Turkey and Syria this could get worse.

The Syria situation could change. Right now Russia is about the only ally of the Syrian President al-Assad. Who Russian planes are bombing is still unclear but by 2018 there could be a different Syria. And whoever is leading that Syria might remember what the Russians did in 2015. Whether Syria will even qualify is still a big uncertainty but they are looking like they could be the story of the unlikely World Cup participants.

And who else? With Russia's political posturing right now they are sure to have more vocal opponents soon. By association, the whole of the UEFA member nations could be strongly anti-Russian, more than they are now over Putin's defence of Sepp Blatter and everything to do with Fifa. Whoever wins the next Fifa presidential election could have a huge impact on the relationship between Russia and the rest of Europe.

There will probably be quite a different political picture come 2018. One thing is for sure. The chances of politics staying out of football seem more unlikely than ever.

Rest day.....

Day -938 ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

And on the 63rd day he rested. Tomorrow I'll be back and before you know it Round number 52 of qualifying in Oceania will be over.

A little bit of Syria

Day -939. ‪WorldCup2018‬.

There are days, and there will be more amongst the 939, where all I can do is find a good story. This is a topical one from a couple of weeks ago. The premise of it: the coach of the Syrian national team, in Singapore for a World Cup qualifier, wore a t-shirt with a picture of Syrian President Bashar as-Assad on it at a press conference and said he wanted to keep politics out of sport.

http://uk.reuters.com/…/uk-soccer-world-asia-syria-idUKKCN0…

Andrew Jennings

Day -940. ‪WorldCup2018‬.


Investigative reporter Andrew Jennings was not particularly interested in football when he researched and wrote his excellent book, "Foul" about corruption at Fifa, and followed it up with his BBC Panorama film. He hounded Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner and the whole of Fifa, and was refused entry to Fifa press conferences. All his work was vindicated this year with the charges brought against members of Fifa, Blatter's step down as Fifa president and the ongoing American and Swiss investigations. On hearing about the Swiss police raid and arrest of seven Fifa officials, Jennings said:
"I know that they are criminal scum, and I’ve known it for years. And that is a thoughtful summation. That is not an insult. That is not throwing about wild words.
“These scum have stolen the people’s sport. They’ve stolen it, the cynical thieving bastards. So, yes, it’s nice to see the fear on their faces.”

Here he is trying to interview Blatter the only way he could, by ambushing him on a street. The best crooked politician would have been proud of Blatter's performance.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5HaZ2ykBjdE

In-betweeners.

Day -941. WorldCup2018.

It's all pretty quiet on the international football front these days. Come March the Europeans will be gearing up for the next round of meaningless friendlies (or dreading them), where some players will be out injured because their club managers are worried about a sore pinky finger or tooth and other players will be playing their hearts out for a spot on the bench at Euro 2016.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world will be embarking on another round of Russia 2018 qualifying. The Europeans with 52 participating countries start in September 2016, while South America with only 10 teams have been at it since last month. Not to be outdone in the madness of prolonged qualifying processes, Oceania completed Round 1 in September and have another round to go to determine which two teams will play in the play-off to decide who will play in the intercontinental play-off in the hope that a team from Oceania makes it to Russia. One would not be amiss for thinking that there must be a lot of teams in the Oceania region, a lot of obscure countries that are not known. No. There are 11 teams. Eleven. And it takes over two years to whittle them down to one country that might make it to Russia. Australia got so bored with all of this they begged to be considered Asian and off they went to join a qualifying region where they would have more than one competitive match. That meant no more world record wins like their 31-0 win against American Samoa in 2002 qualifying. So New Zealand became the new giants of the Pacific Ocean. In the first qualifying phase without Australia, they made it to South Africa in 2010, drew their three matches in the first round and finished above Italy, narrowly missing out on a spot in the second round. That was after an intercontinental play-off win against Bahrain. In 2014, they weren't so lucky and had to play against an angry Mexican team, angry that they were relegated to the humiliation of a play-off to qualify. It wasn't even close. With New Zealand as the new big boys of Oceania and Australia now pretending they're Asian, it would be fairly comical if they ended up playing each other in the intercontinental play-off.

This amusing world cup qualification process distracted me from my original intention, to look for a football parallel of the current tension between Russia and Turkey. Football often has a good story that distracts from other unfortunate realities, even though that story may also be political and reflected in circumstances surrounding the football meeting of the two countries. In this case, it's a good thing that I got carried away with the 11 island nations in the Pacific as there is very little to report on a footballing history between Russia and Turkey. There are records of just two official matches between the mens' national teams, and both of them were friendlies in April 1994 and April 1998.  Russia won 1-0 twice. The old Soviet Union played Turkey 16 times, but never in a World Cup. But this current conflict is between Russia, not the countries of the Soviet Union, and Turkey. Some of those countries would hardly be supporting Russia right now.

So with no fascinating stories of epic, controversial football matches between the two countries we will have to hope that nothing comes of what is going on right now that would set a horrible scene for a possible meeting in the future. A World Cup group of Russia, Ukraine, Syria and Turkey in 2018 could be very, very interesting. Who would be first to boycott?

Big Phil for President!

Day -942. WorldCup2018.

If all else fails go with humour. I almost have to believe that that has become Sepp Blatter's mantra. Despite his self-proclaimed recent near death experience, the constant threat of an FBI, American and Swiss Attorney General investigation finding reason to prosecute him, and just the general mistrust by the majority of anybody with an interest in football following him wherever he goes (which isn't many places because he doesn't dare leave Switzerland for the fear of being arrested), he still manages to come out with a gem of an example of his "you'll-never-get-rid-of-me", Blatter-esque fighting spirit.

The lawyer for his partner in crime, Michel Platini, announced today that the Fifa Ethics Committee is looking to impose a lifetime ban on Platini. Blatter's spokesman said Blatter has not been informed of his recommended sanction, but that he is "deeply surprised" by the possibility of Platini being banned for life. Platini's lawyer says of course that it is a scandal and it is a conspiracy to stop Platini being elected Fifa president. When Blatter stepped down a few months ago, but didn't really step down, Platini was the instant favourite to replace him. Not so anymore. "Disloyal payments" and "verbal contracts" have practically put an end to all of that. But it's all ok. There is a list of very capable looking candidates ready to help us forget about the golden boy of French football and UEFA's great hope for a European-led Fifa. Just forget that one of them, the Sheikh from Bahrain, has been accused of torturing his subjects in Bahrain and that Tokyo Sexwale, the South African, has been a part of Blatter's inner circle and another 2 candidates had intimate knowledge of the workings of Fifa and UEFA and did nothing about all the allegations that came with the knowledge. Platini seems like a pretty clean-cut, upstanding individual next to this lot of fossils pledging the magical "reform of Fifa". Maybe, if nothing else, he should go back to his earlier support of Prince Ali, UEFA's supported candidate and the seemingly cleanest candidate in the elections held earlier this year. After all, hosting the national team of Malta and it's vote-wielding football association president and delegation in Turkey as part of a closed-door friendly against Jordan escapes the radar of corruption and gift-giving. It's just a friendly favour between friends and it's only little Malta after all.

Digress as I may, Blatter's pronouncement today was against this background of "how much worse can this get". When Blatter announced in June this year that he was stepping down as President, only 4 days after winning re-election the world, and not just the football world, took that as a resignation. A few days after that he "clarified" his "resignation" as not being a resignation after all. All he was doing was calling for an extraordinary session of the Fifa Congress to hold another election and that he would not stand for re-election. Or would he? Even that was very unclear. Then came the 90 day provisional ban by the Ethics Committee, while he was being investigated for the "disloyal payment". A few days ago his appeal against the ban was rejected. Today we get the news that, chances are, by association (with Platini's recommended ban) that he may be kicked out of anything football related for ever. Will he give up? Will he finally say, enough is enough and at least concede that it is laughable that he even consider holding on to his position as president? To all those people who can't remember if he did resign or not, will he say, that's it, I'm done.

No, what Sepp Blatter's poor spokesman says is :"Mr Blatter was elected by the Fifa congress and only the congress can remove his power.”  In other words he is still hanging on the his friends' support, the presidents of the national associations around the world who have been a part of the corrupt-laden, bribery-ridden world football structure (allegedly, of course) for all of Blatter's years. He believes, therefore, that they may actually vote him back in if he did indeed seek re-election.

To really understand how far Blatter took Fifa down the road of institutionalized corruption please read Andrew Jennings excellent books, "Foul!" and "“Omerta: Sepp Blatter’s FIFA Organised Crime Family”, together with his fantastic BBC Panorama film, "“The Beautiful Bung: Corruption and the World Cup.”

Yesterday, I mentioned the reincarnation of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Big Phil. Maybe it's not as manager of a smaller country at the World Cup in Russia that he needs to make his full return. Maybe what the world needs, and what those Fifa Executive Committee members need, is Big Phil barking out instructions in those stately Fifa boardrooms. If he can get something out of Fred, Hulk and Jo (well, OK maybe not Jo) just imagine how he could get those men in the ridiculously priced suits squirming in their fit-for-royalty boardroom chairs. It will be all action in no time.....or just after David Luiz leads them in prayer.

Big Phil is back!

Day -943. WorldCup2018.

It gives me great pleasure and enjoyment to announce that the, or at least my, cult hero of Brazil 2014 has resurrected his good name in China. Luis Felipe Scolari, the would be bringer of ultimate World Cup joy to the people of Brazil turned overseer of Brazil's biggest World Cup humiliation has struck gold with Guangzhou Evergrande of China. As recently crowned winners of the Asian Champions League, Big Phil is now only the second coach, after Marcelo Lippi, to win the continental club championship on two continents and a World Cup.

This is the man who was expected to deliver World Cup glory with the questionable talents of Fred, Hulk and Jo and David Luiz's reliance on help from the heavens rather than any defensive skill. After the Germans laughed their way around the pitch in their 7-1 demolition of the Brazilian dreams, Scolari was expected to drift off into the footballing sunset. Three weeks later he was back at where it all started, Gremio, where he won the Copa Libertadores in 1995. The deliverance from footballing hell didn't last long. He was soon off, walking out at the beginning of his second season saying he could do no more to improve the team.

Finally, in China, he is back to being a winner. And the relevance to Russia 2018? There is none really, yet. With Big Phil back in the winners' circle, who knows what underdog country will come calling for the man with the big character, looking for a World Cup miracle.

For your enjoyment: Platini at his best

Day -944. WorldCup2018

Sunday. A day to sit back and enjoy Michel Platini version 1.0, the footballer, the artist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU9S9oaa-AU

OK, goal number 9 is a bit comical but because it was a Platini free kick we must assume he put some magic on it.

Platini: end of the road?

Day -945. WorldCup2018.

Things are really beginning to happen at Fifa, the kind of serious business that may finally put an end to Sepp Blatter's aura of an untouchable. It was an aura that was largely self-manifested, but also supported by the many national association presidents who saw good, mostly monetary, reasons to feed this perception. Of course they may argue that Blatter's intentions were noble, that he did it all for the development of football around the world, mostly in countries that would not have had the necessary funds otherwise to build stadiums and provide programmes for coaches and young players. That these Fifa funds ended up going to questionable projects (allegedly) in certain countries run by political leaders who were also accused of similarly misplacing money meant for the good of the country added to the unfortunate network of support for Blatter.

Today, the investigatory arm of Fifa's Ethics Committee announced that it has finished investigations into Michel Platini's "disloyal payment" to Blatter. The results of these investigations, and recommended sanctions, are now passed on to the adjudicatory arm of the committee. Both men will be summoned to appear before the Ethics Committee shortly and will be "notified of the case against them and the proposed sanctions." (The Guardian) They will have a chance to plead their case in a personal hearing before a decision is made on whether the sanctions are implemented. It seems very likely that the committee has recommended a ban of several years.

Blatter has been defending serious accusations for a number of years. Over the last couple of years there were many officials involved in football, mainly in Europe, who argued that his constant defence and denial of these claims was hurting not only the image of football but was also hampering any chance of a thorough investigation. Platini, previously a supporter of Blatter, became a vocal critic in the last year. Perhaps this was a preemptive attempt at claiming the higher moral ground, in the knowledge that in a year where nobody seemed safe from investigations once the US Attorney General and FBI got involved, his time was definitely coming.

There are many who still remember Platini as a footballing hero, a player who single-handedly won the European Championships for France in 1984, who was part of France's great teams, twice World Cup semi-finalists, of the 1980s. He was a true footballing great, a pleasure to watch and a master of his sport. This continued for a while into his new life as an administrator, credited with making football a massive commercial success in Europe. The Champions League, while derided by some purists for it's saturation of football on TV with sometimes meaningless matches and the virtual elimination of the David vs Goliath match-ups, brought huge wealth to Europe's top clubs through TV rights and sponsorships. Maybe this desire to make football in Europe bigger than anywhere else in the world was the beginning of his downfall. Next year's Finals will have 24 teams. Was this an attempt to rival the World Cup, in terms of stature as the world's premier football tournament, and in revenues from TV. Maybe UEFA, under Platini, got too big and the dollars and euros signs too hard for him to ignore.

There are an endless number of highlights out there to watch, showing the art and beauty of Platini, the footballer. With the image of football amongst fans and non-football fans being perceived as tainted by corruption, sadly the future memories associated with Platini may be "disloyal payment" and "banned from football for 7 years".

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/nov/21/fifa-ethics-committee-asks-for-sanctions-against-sepp-blatter-and-michel-platini

Prince Ali, the "reformer"!

Day -946. WorldCup2018.

I look forward to the day, closer to the February 26th Fifa presidential election, when Fifa and football enter the general population's conscience once again and the name of one of the candidates,Tokyo Sexwale, is mentioned repeatedly. We are going to have jokes on talk shows, snickering on TV sports reports and a multitude of innuendo-laced comments on social media.

Equally as amusing in its ludicrousness is another candidate, Prince Ali of Jordan, being touted as a favourite while also being called a "reformer". What's a big part of his platform? That the thought of stripping Russia and Qatar of their World Cups will not even be considered, despite widespread allegations of bribery and corruption in the bidding processes and the appalling near-slavery conditions of the construction workers in Qatar. And the small matter of the Russian Minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko  who is also the head of the Wolrld Cup orgaising committee being accused of being aware of the Russian athletic doping scandal is also of no pressing conern for Prince Ali. So where's the reform? Bribery and corruption allegations will be ignored by the potential new President, And the boys will take care of each other; Mutko is a member of the Fifa Executice Committee.

Reform, Prince Ali? Looks like more of the same, with a new name at the helm. Now if that name was Tokyo Sexwale, at least it might be entertaining.

https://www.rt.com/sport/322746-fifa-candidate-russia-qatar/

Tokyo Sexwale: Fifa manifesto

Day -947. WorldCup2018.

I'm using one of my lifelines today. I'm not going to miss a day so will call in the BBC to provide the info. It's pretty funny stuff about Tokyo Sexwale and his poorly written manifesto.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34868723

Blatter and Platini

Day -948. WorldCup2018

Fifa's Appeals Committee today rejected Sepp Blatter's and Michel Platini's appeal against their 90 day ban from all football related activity. They are provisionally banned while Fifa investigates allegations of a "disloyal payment" from Blatter to Platini. It is understood that the Ethics Committee will decide on the case by the end of the year, and they could both receive 7 year bans.

So today's decision was just about the 90 day provisional ban. Both Blatter and Platini say they will appeal by going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Even if they won this appeal, the investigations would carry on and if they did receive a definite ban they would have to appeal through CAS again.

Platini, of course, wants the 90 day ban overturned so that he can campaign for the Fifa preseident role. Below is the statement from Fifa:

"Joseph S. Blatter: the FIFA Appeal Committee rejected the appeal in full and confirmed in its entirety the decision (cf. art. 84 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics) concerning provisional measures taken ex parte by the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee on 7 October 2015.

However, for the sake of clarity, the procedure of the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee regarding the provisional measures is still ongoing, meaning that the adjudicatory chamber may still confirm, revoke or amend the provisional decision as stated in art. 84 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Michel Platini: the FIFA Appeal Committee rejected the appeal in full and confirmed in its entirety the decision (cf. art. 84 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics) confirming the provisional measures taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee on 20 October 2015. The decision of the adjudicatory chamber had been passed following the initial decision taken ex parte on 7 October 2015 and after having heard the party in this regard.

The decisions taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to Mr Blatter and Mr Platini today, 18 November 2015.

According to article 67 of the FIFA Statutes, the decisions may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."

(For interests' sake, art.84 par. 2 of the Fifa Code of Ethics states:  "The chairman of the adjudicatory committee may make his decision on the basis of the case files available to him, without hearing the parties, in which case the parties shall be summoned to a hearing or invited to submit written statements after the decision has been issued. After hearing the parties, the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber shall confirm, revoke or amend his decision".

Just football, lots of football.

Day -949. WorldCup2018.

You hear but you don't listen. You look but you don't really see.  You pay attention, or so you think, but you don't remember what it was you were supposed to be paying attention to. You follow football around the world but you don't notice that it takes three years to qualify for a World Cup.

It has taken this countdown for me to be really aware that there are countries around the world that started their qualification matches earlier than the official 1000 day countdown was started by the Russia 2018 organising committee. Less than a year after Brazil 2014 ended and more than three years before Russia 2018 starts, the lowest ranked Asian teams started playing. The winners have since moved on to the second round, but none of them will be even close to moving beyond that, let alone be in Russia.

Today Asia had it's first qualifier for the third round. Qatar, while building a team that will not be an embarrassment as hosts in 2022, have won all their matches so far. They move on courtesy of their latest win and China's draw with Hong Kong. There is a story there, the country playing as an independent state against the country that administers it.

Saudi Arabia scored 10 against East Timor. There's another story, when one looks back at the terrible events of 1999 that the country went through to fight against the Indonesian occupation and gain independence in 2002.

Iran beat Guam 6-0 for the second time, putting an end to the Guam fairytale story. And Syria got a 93rd injury time winner to beat Singapore (who had equalised in the 89th minute) to stay 1 point behind Japan in their group. That Syria story, with all it's political implications could go on for a while. And Iraq, a football crazy country who's supporters defy bombings and threats against them, won again to put themselves in a strong position.

South America looks like it's going to be very interesting and extremely close fought. The norm, for most South American qualifying tournaments, is that it is assumed that Brazil and Argentina will qualify (if they didn't automatically as hosts or holders) and the other teams will fight for the other 2 spots, and the 1 play-off place. Not so this time, so far. Argentina won for the first time today, their first win in 4. Brazil are slowly looking better. They beat Peru 3-0 today, but other teams are looking very strong. Ecuador have won 4 out of 4. Chile, the reigning South American champions have already beaten Brazil. Uruguay, convincingly beat Chile today and Colombia are back to being a real threat after their strong showing at Brazil 2014. Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru might be the only weaker teams out of the 10.

Africa is into it's second round of three. Today all the big teams ended any dreams and hopes the smaller countries may have had. Algeria beat Tanzania 7-0, after a surprise 2-2 draw in the first leg; Egypt beat Chad 4-0 to emphatically overcome a 1-0 loss in Chad and Nigeria were less convincing in beating Swaziland.

Of course, in terms of fairytales and dreams, Comoros had captured this neutral's imagination. Fan as I have been of Ghana in recent World Cups, the thought of the Islanders from Comoros pulling off a huge shock was fascinating. It was not meant to be, but it was in no way humiliating. Ghana fought to a 2-0 win, after a 0-0 draw in the first leg. As for Comoros, and maybe this was part of the fascination, the wait for their first ever World Cup win goes on. They'll be back in October 2019 when it starts over again, a new long road, that to Qatar.

Comoros

Day -950. WorldCup2018.

In 950 days I wonder what will be happening in the Comoros Islands. Chances are a sizable number of the population will be watching the opening match of the World Cup in Russia. There is a very minute chance that Comoros will be playing in that match or in days beyond that. To make that chance a possibility they will probably have to finally win a World Cup qualifying match.

Comoros won through their first round of qualifying by beating Lesotho. Beating without actually winning a match. After two draws they were though on away goals. In their second round tie against one of the African giants, Ghana, it looks like they are working on a similar strategy. The first match in Comoros was a 0-0 draw. Tomorrow they play in Ghana where victory for the home team should be a formality. But Comoros will need to score and if they do and hold on for a draw that will be another away goals "win" for them.

Everybody loves an upset and a small team making it all the way. It is almost ludicrous to think Comoros could be that team. For them, and their supporters, the 0-0 against Ghana was their big victory. But many a neutral may be keeping an eye out for that result in Ghana tomorrow.

Lebanon and football happiness.

Day -951. WorldCup2018.

Football, if it matters, carried on this weekend. Football stadiums, and other sport stadia, can be a gathering place for collective emotions. It can't replace, but maybe it can help repair.

Europe has not started World Cup qualifying. France, after their players spent a night in the Stade de Frace with their German opponents, have decided to go ahead with their friendly in England on Tuesday. The players were given the option of pulling out. All said they wanted to go.

On the day of the terrible double suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, beat Laos 7-0 for their first home points. The match was played south of Beirut, in Sidon, at 5pm. The bombings were reported to have happened at 6pm. For those supporters in Sidon their apprehension was probably only about whether Lebanon would get 3 points and possibly overtake Kuwait who have been provisionally suspended by Fifa. In the end, at around 7pm, was there any joy?

On Friday, 26 people were killed in a suicide bombing and roadside blast in Baghdad.  According to the Ney York Times "attacks in Baghdad have taken place almost daily". Iraq did not play this weekend. They play in Chinese Taipei. Iraqis, sadly, have become used to football matches being targets of attacks. Yet it seems, nothing can dampen the supporters enthusiasm. After a suicide bomber killed 30 fans celebrating Iraq's semi-final win against South Korea, a new anthem became popular amongst supporters: "With our blood and soul, we will sacrifice for Iraq" (from www.thenational.ae). For some, football is their outlet from the misery.

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/20150715/football-in-times-of-crisis-iraqs-love-of-the-game-refuses-to-waver-in-face-of-violence

And in Africa the supporters of Gabon, Uganda, Zambia, Morocco, Congo DR and Guinea have good reason to be happy, if only for a short while and if only as a distraction from daily life, as they won to move on the next round of qualifying.

Paris ......

Day -952. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.

Still nothing. Just more football stories amongst this horrible mess.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/14/german-football-team-spends-night-stade-de-france-paris-attacks?CMP=twt_gu%3FCMP%3Dtwt_gu

Paris

Day -953. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬.


https://mobile.twitter.com/BreatheSport/status/665326188680757248/video/1

Football on life support.

Day -954. WorldCup2018

Fifa, oh Fifa. Reform, change, new era. What about all those great plans we heard so much about, the promises of a new beginning with a new President? Today the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee, "established to oversee the electoral process for the office of FIFA president" (fifa.com) rejected the candidature of Musa Bility, President of the Liberian FA, "in view of the content of the integrity check report relating to him".

What was Bility's great sin? According to Fifa, "For reasons of protection of personality rights, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee – while it has explained its considerations in detail to Musa Hassan Bility – will not comment publicly on the specifics of its decision."

Bility said that he was told that the main reason for his failed bid was his ban for 6 months by the African Confederation (CAF) in 2013. He suffered this punishment because he challenged the then President of CAF, Issa Hayatou and the way that Hayatou changed the election rules to make sure that he won re-election. Bility had his controversies. He was fund guilty of massive tax evasion in Liberia and "economic sabotage" by the Liberian government over a $30m contract for the reconstruction of an airport runway. But his challenge of Hayatou, even if it was an attempt at self-publicity might have actually made a difference. "My decision to fight CAF at the time was a genuine attempt to change African football and prevent rules from being arbitrarily violated," said Bility.

A Fifa statement also said, "The integrity check included a review of corporate records, litigation cases, bankruptcy proceedings, potential regulatory actions taken against the candidate and a review of media reports concerning potential red flags (fraudulent behaviour, match manipulation, human rights violations, etc)."

This applied to all the candidates. They put human rights at the end of that. Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa was approved. This is the Sheikh who has had serious allegation of rounding up footballers and other athletes for torture in Bahrain levelled against him. Allegations with some very concrete evidence. Yet he has passed Fifa's integrity check.

I do wish I had the right words to convey my dismay, sadness, disappointment at not only Fifa but at anybody in the world of football, especially those who run their national associations, who allow this to happen. The President may change but football is not going to. Put aside the monetary corruption. While linked, it is the moral corruption that is ruining this game. Men, and yes they are all men, are morally corrupting this game. Until they go, or are a meaningless minority, Fifa is going to be the same organisation comprised of member nations who vote for World Cups to be held in countries that have no regard for human rights. Presidents of FA's in little Caribbean nations are going to allow a World Cup to be held in a country where workers building opulent stadiums are treated like slaves.

What is the point of following the Fifa presidential election? Five corrupt football officials sitting on a wall......or, more appropriately, five corrupt football officials sitting in a Brazilian-mined-marble-walled conference room.......

I despair.

Football is back!

Day -955. WorldCup2018.

What a relief! We get a break from talk of Fifa and World Cups and get some countries playing to qualify for a Fifa World Cup. Politics takes a back seat for the next few days and football is on. Yes, we can dream.

While eight European countries are involved in play-offs for the final four spots in next year's Euros, there are World Cup qualifying in all the other continental confederations, except for Oceania.

Africa is in the second round, with the two leg elimination matches starting today. Zambia and Mozambique got narrow 1-0 wins over Gabon and Sudan respectively. The majority of matches in this round are quite mismatched on paper with wins for the bigger, more established nations expected to be a formality. But supporters of Comoros are surely allowed to dream of a win against Ghana. Comoros have never actually won a World Cup match. They drew the two legs of their first round encounter and advanced on away goals. The same can be said of Liberia, as they attempt to topple the Ivory Coast, one of the more successful African teams recently.

In Asia the much discussed, on and off again, repeatedly rescheduled match between Saudi Arabia and Palestine was played in Jordan on Monday and finished 0-0. This was Saudi Arabia's first dropped points after four wins but, more importantly, there was no further political fall-out.

The big match of the weekend is the Argentina-Brazil clash in Buenos Aires on Thursday. On top of the long standing rivalry there is added incentive for both teams after a somewhat shaky start to qualifying, especially for Argentina who have only one point after 2 matches.

The CONCACAF region starts it's fourth round group phase. It makes you think how Europe can get through their qualifying in about twenty months, yet the North, Central American and Caribbean teams are at Round 4 when the Europeans are a year away from starting. Anybody attending football matches in Canada and the U.S.A. will know that starting times are usually a guide. Turn up for a match at 6.45pm for a 7pm start (as stated on your ticket, on TV, online) and you will probably have some sort of pre-game show starting at 7pm, followed by a grand entrance of the teams, some fireworks maybe and a cheerleaders' show and at about 7.12pm the match will start. Seeing as these qualifying matches are World Cup matches and Fifa probably doesn't stand for these approximate start times, Canada-Honduras is listed on fifa.com as starting at 19.08 and the Americans kick-off at 18.10. Guatemala have also joined in on the odd kick-off time fun with their match listed at 19.06. Of course, the Americans and Canadians are still carrying on with their false advertising to the local fans. Canadasoccer.com has kick-off for 7pm. The Americans are more creative. Fifa were probably told 18.30 but ussoccer.com has them starting at 18.30. The American way, I guess. You got to make sure everybody on TV is watching all the commercials.

So a super long weekend on football ahead. No talk of corruption, bribes, Fifa presidential elections. But what's that that happened in Istanbul today? Surely a friendly match between Jordan and Malta was just that, a meaningless encounter between two teams preparing for more important future battles. So why are the President of the Maltese FA, Norman Darmanin Demajo and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, President of the Jordanian FA sitting so cozily in those comfy armchairs, at a football match? Prince Ali is a candidate for Fifa president and is out there looking for votes. Darmanin Demajo is the President of an association who's previous president is part of an alleged vote-buying scandal by the World Cup bid committee of Germany 2006. But even though there is the temptation to look for a story here, at the moment it sadly/happily looks like there is nothing untoward. Prince Ali said it was Darmanin Demajo who was the "catalyst behind his decision" to contest the presidential election in May, the one which Blatter won before stepping down.

Prince Ali told the UEFA congress in March: "I am particularly grateful to a colleague who visited Jordan one year ago and came up with a concept to unify FIFA’s work in this field. Thank you Norman (Darmanin Demajo). I want to translate your vision into reality.” And Darmanin Demajo annouced that the Maltese FA is firmly behind Prince Ali for this next election. This friendly match was a invitation from Prince Ali to the Maltese FA, to show their solidarity.

So we can move along, there looks like their is nothing to see here, apart from two men sitting in armchairs in a football stadium in Istanbul. And the men behind them thought they had snagged the comfy, VIP seats.
 

Wolfgang Niersbach. It's not confusing.

Day -956. WorldCup2018

There is a saying in Maltese which literally translates to "confuse me so I can understand you". It fits well in the Maltese sense of humour and it came to mind today. Football, you indeed are confusing.

Yesterday the President of the German Football Association (DFB) Wolfgang Niersbach resigned over a scandal surrounding the DFB and the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup. Nierbasch said he resigned because he realised he had to shoulder the political responsibility for the controversy surrounding the 6.7m Euros payment from the DFB to Fifa in 2000. He maintains he knew nothing about it and the DFB board still supported him.

Allegedly the payment was to reimburse the late former Adidas President Robert Louis-Dreyfus for money that he had loaned to the German World Cup bid committee. The money was supposedly for a slush fund that was set up to buy votes for the German bid. One of those supposedly "bought" votes was of the Maltese FA president, Joe Mifsud. Rather than just show up in Malta and hand over a brown envelope with $250,000 in it, the President of Bayern Munich, Franz Beckenbauer who was also the head of the German bid, set up a friendly match in Malta where Bayern played Malta. A contract was drawn up between the Swiss company CWL and the Maltese FA for TV rights for the match for $250,000. In a court case going on in Malta right now related to this match, Mifsud revealed that the contract was signed at his house, "because it was the weekend". The lawyer to the other party involved in this case pointed out that the contract was signed on a Thursday. "Well maybe I wanted to give them a drink", was Mifsud's justification. He "cannot remember" whether Beckenbaeur was present for the signing. It is quite normal that the President of a national football association doesn't notice the presence, or absence, of a football legend.

In the end, Germany won the right to host the 2006 World Cup by one vote over South Africa. It may have been Mifsud's vote and that of the now disgraced, former CONCACAF President Jack Warner. Beckenbauer's signature was found to be on a draft contract with Warner promising football related favours for Warner.

Nothing really confusing yet. It all just sounds like a now normal week at Fifa and one of it's member associations. But here is where the need to make it more confusing in order to be understandable arises. The DFB payment was made to Fifa, to reimburse the President of Adidas. Yes, indeed. Let's pay Pete back the money that Tom lent us. The clue may be in the wording of one of the reports. The money was paid back "through Fifa". And Adidas, not only as a major Fifa sponsor, has a very cosy relationship with Fifa, going back to the days of the setting up of the bribe and kickback machine, ISL, Fifa's media and marketing partner that was co-founded by the son of Adidas' founder.

The other bewildering fact out of yesterday and today's news is that Fifa have said they are going to investigate this DFB payment. That's expected, that they will say that. The extent of their investigation might be up for debate. However, there is one thing that seems, on the surface, not quite right. Although Niersbach resigned from the DFB he is keeping his position on the Fifa and UEFA executive committees. Niersbach saw fit to resign to protect the reputation of the DFB presidency. Yet, does he not see anything odd in being part of an executive committee that is going to investigate the possible illicit payment from the organisation that he was the president of to the organisation that he sits on the executive committee of. Yes it is true that the investigation may be independent. But, surely, he needs to cut himself loose from both the DFB and Fifa if he feels this moral responsibility. I suppose it is really only political responsibility.

Nothing related to Fifa is simple these days. This latest allegation will play out over the next few weeks and it will be more confusing along the way. But in the end I'm sure we will all be none the wiser about what really happened. And, Fifa, will we ever understand you? 

Not us, say the Russians.

Day -957 WorldCup2018.

Many times between 1992 and 1995 my mother would ask me, "so explain to me again, in this Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian war, who's who and who are the bad guys?". We would have this conversation repeatedly, me telling her what I knew, from following the news, what the difference was between the Croats, the Bosnian Croats, the Serbs, the Bosnian Serbs and on and on. Who was I to say who the bad guys were. As we sat in front of our TV, watching the suffering of these poor people everyday, my opinion was of little value other than to put this on-TV war into some sort of understandable perspective.

Today I can imagine calling my Mum and her asking me, "so who are the bad guys now, the Russian athletes, the Russian coaches, the Russian drug testers, the Russian Sports Minister, or WADA?" And she would probably add, but maybe only to herself and because she watched sport and had her favourites more for the personality than the results, "just as long as it's not Seb Coe, he can't be bad". The consequences of athletes taking drugs to win a race and the actions of those who gave them the drugs can hardly be compared to the horrors of the Balkan war. But still we need to find an understanding of, a way to cope with, the things around us that we care about and feel we are a part of, as supporters of sport in this case. As Tom Fordyce, Chief Sports Writer at the BBC, wrote today in his excellent piece about the Russian drug scandal: "For those who watch from the outside, who invest financially in tickets and television subscriptions and emotionally in the big nights and great races, there is a betrayal equally as significant."


That sentence is true for any football fan all over the world. Dick Pound, who chaired the independent commission  for the World Anti Doping Agency, unsurprisingly said that there are probably other sports and other countries that could be guilty of the "corruption and bribery practices" uncovered at the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been well documented that similar allegations have been ongoing at Fifa for a while.


But how does this staggering news have anything to do with football, Fifa and Russia 2018? The simple link is Vitaly Mutko. The more complex explanation may come to light over the next 957 days.

Vitaly Mutko is Russia's Sport Minister. Today's report says it is impossible that he did not know what was going on. "It was impossible for him not to be aware of it. And if he’s aware of it, he’s complicit in it", said Dick Pound. Mutko is also Chair of the Russia 2018 organising committee and President of the Russian Football Union. He is also a member of the Fifa Executive Committee. To say he is a variety of interests in the success of the World Cup in 2018 is an understatement. 

If Fifa's ExCo have any issues with the preparations of the World Cup, in as much as they serve Fifa's interests they would consult with the local organising committee. If there was a problem with the organisng committee the government may have to step in, with the first line of defence, so to speak, being the Sports Minister. Who's interests does Viatly Mutko primarily serve? And if any issue goes beyond the Sports Minister and a higher level of government is called upon for intervention, the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation may be consulted. And he is Igor Shuvalov, who is also First Deputy Chairman of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee Supervisory Board. It doesn't look like anybody would have to dig very deep to find evidence of political interference in the organisation of Russia 2018.

As a side note, Mutko was the Sports Minister who presided over Russia's worst ever showing at an Olympics, in Vancouver in 2010. But it wasn't just the disastrous results that irked the Russians back home. He was accused of excessive expenses while in Vancouver, including 97 breakfast vouchers and $1500 a night hotel rooms.

The Russians were again on the defence today as they were when the Fifa corruption allegations surfaced. Any mention of corruption links to the awarding of the World Cup to Russia were rebuked as a conspiracy against Russia from the jealous Western countries, led by the Americans. In reaction to today's news, Mutko said, "whatever we do, everything is bad". Russians were persecuted over doping, he said, and other officials said it was a "political hit job". It's hard to see this defensive attitude letting up anytime soon. And football and it's supporters may suffer.

Tom Fordyce points out, quite rightly however,  that football fans do have a choice: "If the voting process that awarded Fifa's World Cup to a small desert state with a questionable human rights record disturbs you, campaigners would suggest you boycott the sponsors who bankroll it."

And again from Tom Fordyce,  in a statement that applies so well to football: "Sport only survives if we all keep coming back. We come back because we believe in it. If that trust goes, everything else falls with it. It is a bottom line that brooks no argument."

"So Aidan, tell me again, who are the bad guys?" Well, have you got more than a few minutes? It's really not that difficult, but a little complicated.....

Musa Bility

Day -958. WorldCup2018.

In any election there is very often a candidate who is seen as either the maverick, easily dismissed as the non-serious addition to the list or as an interesting alternative to the candidates who promise the world but offer few tangible changes to the present administration or leadership of an organisation. For the next Fifa presidential election Musa Bility is that guy.

Bility is the President of the Liberian Football Assoiation. He is also a very successful businessman as CEO of Liberia's largest petroleum importer, Shrimex, and owner of the Renaissance Communications media conglomerate. Bility has been very active on the political scene in Liberia. He is a strong ally of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and was said to be the unseen force behind her campaign in 2011 which saw her return to power for a second term. He has also been assigned a number of positions of trust by the Liberian government: Chairman of the National Port Authority, Chairman of the Boards of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporations and the Liberia Airport Authority.

When he announced his candidacy in early summer, he declared himself the favourite. This was before Michel Platini's current problems and when he was seen as the clear favourite to succeed Blatter.

Bility said, "I think that I am the favourite. I come from the most popular continent. I do represent the largest block in football where the underprivileged nations are." This was also before the second African candidate, Tokyo Sexwale, joined the race.

"I always ask the question: What is the difference if someone wants Blatter to go, why do you want to replace him with Platini? What message are you sending? Do we just want to get rid of Blatter and so that's it? If that's it then Platini is the candidate. But if not, if we're looking for an honest and a fair beginning, then we have to start fresh with people with new thinking - as the [English] FA have said."

With the benefit of what we (allegedly) know now about Platini, this seems even more true.  And all of the other candidates are seen as being part of the old Fifa network. Biliti presents himself as the ultimate reformer amongst a field of candidates using reform as the buzz word. Amongst the early revelations from his manifesto were:

• a "reduction in the power of the 24 person Executive Committee"
• a call for the current Fifa crisis to be "dealt with in a transparent fashion"
• a need for Fifa to re-establish it's relationship with Interpol (there was funding for an anti-match fixing programme)
• a request for officials to declare their assets before joining Fifa

As reported in the Daily Maverick, from South Africa in June of this year Bility faces opposition from with the African nations. And this was before there even was a second African candidate. In 2011 he did not go along with the rest of the popular support in Africa for Blatter and instead declared he would be voting for Mohammed Bin Hamman in the presidential election. And in 2013 he did not win a seat on the African Confederation's (CAF) executive committee. This may have been because he mounted a legal challenge to the manner in which the CAF President Issa Hayatou changed the rules pertaining to who could stand for president. This challenge led to a six month for Bility from all football related activity.

This ban was ended early when Bility "made up" with Hayatou. Nevertheless, it is still interesting that Bility said in June that he would step aside if Hayatou decided to join the Fifa presidential race.

Bility has had his share of controversy. He was found guilty of tax evasion in Liberia for not paying the government $368,000 in taxes. He was ordered to pay a lesser amount and a judge also ordered the seizure of his assets and closure of his businesses. But, unlike in other countries, "transgressors in Liberia avoid jail due to their political and or Presidential connection by repaying what they have gained illegally." (Front Page Africa, March 2014). He was also indicted for economic sabotage in relation to a $30m project to rehabilitate a runway at the Roberts International Airport in Liberia. He has these charges dismissed by a judge "for government’s failure to prosecute him during the succeeding term of court, after his indictment, as provided for under the law."

He also has his opponents within Liberia who question his ability to run football in Liberia, let alone Fifa. Danesius Marteh of FrontPageAfrica described Bility's announcement as a Fifa presidential candidate as a "publicity stunt". "He’s just a maverick character looking for publicity at any cost and any level to get it"

Hawa Wesseh, writing in The Liberian Dialogue, argues that Bility, as president of the Liberian Football Association is "bereft of ideas" and "has no direction".  Wesseh maintains that Liberian football has been in a downward trend under Bility's presidency and his appointment of a national coach who is more "interested in is politics and not football" has contributed to this.

Whether Bility, therefore, is indeed the "reform" candidate is unfortunately questionable. However, when it comes to a maverick businessman, politician and football administrator it is only fitting to showcase an example of his character. The Liberian FA's "President's Column" page gives a glowing endorsement of well, himself, the President. All written in the third person it lists his numerous business and political achievements, with a passing mention of football. It is the last item on the list which adds to the mystique of this individual and leaves much for our imagination:


"Bility is married to Denise and they are blessed with several children".

Bility is married to Denise and they are blessed with several children. - See more at: http://www.liberiafa.com/about/presidents-column/#sthash.4zupFY2J.dpuf

Bility is married to Denise and they are blessed with several children. - See more at: http://www.liberiafa.com/about/presidents-column/#sthash.4zupFY2J.dpuf

Bility is married to Denise and they are blessed with several children. - See more at: http://www.liberiafa.com/about/presidents-column/#sthash.4zupFY2J.dpuf

Bility is married to Denise and they are blessed with several children. - See more at: http://www.liberiafa.com/about/presidents-column/#sthash.4zupFY2J.dpuf