FIFA corruption

There's not much left to say on the farce that was the World Cup bidding process. We know they are as bent as a three pound note, so why pander to them and waste millions in doing so?

I don't have a problem with Russia winning the 2018 bid. The country has made rapid progress in hosting big events in recent years, there's plenty of money in local football so facilities are improving all the time and presentation was well organised. I'm quite excited by the prospect of going there. It's the Qatar one which defies all logic. Good luck to them if they can pull it off, but little regard seems to have been paid to fans when they are not inside the air-conditioned stadiums. Getting into a major event stadium can often take over an hour, and in 50C, that's potentially lethal. Are they going to build 200 hotels to accommodate and provide liquid refreshment for foreign fans? Will there be a market for hotel boats moored 2km offshore where all the alcohol is served? And as far as the legacy goes, ripping down the stadiums afterwards doesn't exactly provide much for the future. Still if they've got the bottomless pit of cash to attend to every detail, good luck to them - make the world eat its words.

Like it or not, it's about time we let this issue go. The more we moan about it, the more we all look like sore losers. What doesn't kill you serves to make you stronger apparently. As put before UK parliament on Monday by Roger Godsiff, MP.

Early Day Motion
That this House believes that it would be a good idea if all those individuals and organisations involved in the failed World Cup bid showed a little humility and good grace instead of continually whingeing and moaning about the unfairness of FIFA and the bidding process; recalls that no allegations of unfairness were levelled by the British bid team or media against the International Olympic Committee, which is a similar self-appointed undemocratic organisation, when they awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London; remembers that the English football authorities were themselves accused of double-dealing and breaking promises by members of UEFA when they attempted a rival bid against Germany for the 2006 World Cup; notes that the English football authorities and the Premier League are only too willing to sanction takeovers of English clubs by billionaire Russian oligarchs and Arab sheikhs and yet are condescendingly dismissive of Russia and Qatar's abilities to host football World Cups; and, while regretting that England was able only to accumulate two votes out of 22, congratulates Russia and Qatar on their success in bringing World Cup football to two parts of the world which have never hosted the World Cup before.

Well said sir.

One last point on FIFA, as printed in the Courier-Mail:

All you need to know about the men who made this decision is that FIFA requested, as a condition if England had mounted a successful bid, exclusion from a range of UK laws including one governing banks and foreign exchange operations.

So, had England hosted the World Cup, FIFA executives were free to move around with sacks of unexplained cash, exempt from the inquisition of customs officers.

We creep, we crawl, we kow-tow, prostrating ourselves at the feet of crummy, puffed-up overlords.


Football is just a sport. It's not the be-all and end-all of the world. It's not even close to the Olympics in terms of recognising sportspeople at the top of their profession, those who bust a gut all year round mostly supporting themselves, rather than overpaid, ethically devoid footballers. I don't hate football, I just hate the hype surrounding it. I'll quite happily watch it, but in terms of the amount of football I watch, it probably comes 10th on my list of sports...Posted byScott Fergusonat13:51

Harry makes sense - poor prizemoney opens the door to corruption

It really isn't rocket science - when the rewards for competing are poor, then corrupt influences are more likely to be listened to. Sport at the biggest level - the Premier League, NFL, the Olympics, Group I races etc, has little problem from corrupt gambling influences. The incentive to win is so great that competitors are more likely to cheat to win, via performance-enhancing substances or illegal equipment. But when a sport is specifically run for betting and the prizes for competitors are so poor, then can you really blame someone for being tempted by corrupt influences?

Harry Findlay reckons horse racing's 'poverty' prize money could lead to corruption


Professional gambler Harry Findlay warned on Friday that "poverty" prize money could lead to an increase in corruption in racing.

Findlay said that a drop in prize money is likely to lead jockeys, trainers and other racing professionals to be more likely to bend the rules, or susceptible to approaches from corrupt individuals.

"I believe that the powers that run racing have got some people in racing into such a distressed state, with low prize money meaning people are losing their jobs and having houses repossessed, that it could lead people to corruption," Findlay said during a debate on integrity at the Leaders in Football conference in London.

"There are two races at Wolverhampton tonight with £1,300 prize money, and there's a couple more that just over £2,600, that's scandalously low when you consider what trainers have to spend to get horses to the line."

The BHA is treading a very fine line - it wants to stamp out corruption and has been highly visible in the way it prosecuted the Findlay case (re trading his own horse) earlier in the year and the Casela Park non-trier case this week. That stance is commendable IF they are completely consistent and do everything they can to provide a natural deterrent to breaking the rules. Will the Casela Park case (trainer Eamonn Tyrell and jockey Jason Behan were banned for three years) become a line in the sand so that now we will see several cases each month of trainers being pulled up with non-triers? Not a chance. Will the Findlay case lead to other convictions, more consistency or clearer rules? Unlikely.

The most natural deterrent to dodgy activity is making the prizes as valuable as possible, not wasting money in court rooms. Close some racecourses, stop running races for horses too slow to pull carts and stop wasting money prosecuting cases unless the BHA is 100% prepared to draw a line in the sand and be consistent and transparent with the cases it pursues. All this other headline-chasing stuff such as moving Champions Day to Ascot really is irrelevant until they underpin the base of the industry.Posted byScott Fergusonat23:33