It's been a while since some real juicy FIFA news broke the airwaves. Fortunately for all, the past couple of weeks have been absolutely amazing. The big news that has to be touched upon first is the ban handed to Harold Mayne-Nicholls for seven years. This reason for this ban hasn't been addressed by FIFA officials just yet but leaked e-mails revealed that it may stem from Mayne-Nicholls asking to have relatives placed in the Qatari Aspire Academy.
For those who are unaware, Aspire is a Qatari Academy system that is beyond state of the art, designed to identify and develop the best talent in their country to grow the game of soccer. Unfortunately it's come under fire as more of a headhunting agency than a domestic academy It's thought they have spent billions of dollars on facilities, coaches, and scouting around the world. Their scouts search the deepest corners of the planet for top talent to bring to Qatar. With the country having a history of giving passports to elite athletes in other sports, the assumption is that once a top soccer player is developed at Aspire (which hasn't happened) they'll be nationalized despite their place of birth in order to make their 2022 team competitive.
Even if that is the case, the level of coaching kids receive is second to few, making scholarships very valuable. It's possible FIFA felt Mayne-Nicholls was seeking a bribe from the Qatari's or perhaps his judgement was impaired after making such an inquiry. Considering that Mayne-Nicholls was the man in charge of the entire bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, it's a safe bet.
This news is likely to be received, once made official, by the media as another sign of how corrupt President Sepp Blatter's regime has been for the past two decades. It's also possible, as BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Conway points out, that Sepp will use this as another example of his attempt to reform FIFA, especially if he tries to hold on to his presidency later this year.
Speaking of which, Sepp Blatter stepped out of FIFA's headquarters for the first time since his announcement to resign (more on that later). He toured the currently under construction FIFA Museum in Zurich when reporters asked him about his resignation from earlier this summer. In between thanking the workers for their hard work (funny how he hasn't gone to Qatar to do the same for their workers), he made the following statement about his June 2 "resignation": "I have not resigned. I put my mandate in the hands of an extraordinary congress." As is usual with Blatter, he kept on talking before he could be escorted along and talked about how only "space people" can appreciate the complexity of running the game and so forth.
Fortunately all of this was doccument by Swiss paper Blick, and for that we are forever grateful.
It's no surprise that Blatter may not actually step down as President of FIFA. It's been long speculated that this could be a brilliant move to push away the media pressure and buy himself enough time to either destroy all evidence ahead of any criminal charges or secure his base enough to fight off any challenge. Though June 2nd was a great day for world football, the better day will be when Sepp is truly gone. Hopefully that will happen early this winter during the extraordinary congress, assuming it doesn't get pushed back to 2016.
In response to Blatter's comments, Domenico Scala, FIFA's election monitor, scolded Blatter, saying that he is ineligible to stand for re-election. "I call on all concerned — including Mr. Blatter — to endorse in the interest of the reforms unequivocally the announced changing of the guard at the top of FIFA,” Scala said. While it's great to see Scala attempt to keep all this craziness in check, it's an open question as to whether he'll be able to prevent Blatter from being re-elected in some way, shape or form. If he can succeed in that, it'll be a huge victory for reform, but not the definitive one everyone is looking for.
In more wonderful news for FIFA, the Spanish FA is filing a lawsuit saying the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will cost them millions of Euros to which they are looking for recompense. The lawsuit was filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport which will no doubt enjoy figuring this one out. The lawsuit comes after UEFA was given $209 million earlier this year to help offset future losses for leagues around Europe for that tournament, which has been moved to November and December.
Shock of shock, Spain feels that their cut of the money isn't enough to offset their potential losses during a Winter World Cup and are seeking more money. Should they win the lawsuit, expect the floodgates to open as other leagues take FIFA to court. How much would the Bundesliga ask for? Or how about the Premier League and their hugely insane international TV contracts? FIFA's usual method of throwing money at the problem may not be so viable in this case.
Lastly, Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up to bring us a movie adaptation of Houses of Deceit by Ken Besinger, which chronicles the rise and fall of former FIFA Vice President Chuck Blazer. The book is slated to be published in 2017, with the movie likely not far behind it. The director of Warrior, Gavin O'Connor, has been selected to helm the project while Anthony Tambakis (of the same movie) is set to help write the script. It's thought to be a comedy-drama con-man movie which about sums up the life of every FIFA Executive Committee member. But especially Blazer.
Affleck previously helmed award winning movies such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo. To get an idea of the type of movie this could be, check out Argo and Warrior specifically with a dash of Ocean's Eleven likely thrown into the mix. Doesn't that sound perfect?