I see where the Yanks are giving the Japs a righteous thrashing.
Does this mean anything?
Well, I guess it means Carli Lloyd is having a really good day...
Does it mean anything beyond that?
Probably not.
Showing posts with label FIFA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FIFA. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Pound, Dick; meet the new President of FIFA!
Seems Blatter read the tea leaves, not to mention the e-mails from Adidas and Coca-Cola lawyers, and decided there was no point.
There's now a move afoot to put the unctuous Canadian busy-body Dick Pound in the big chair at FIFA.
Big Dick, as he is known, has a decent day job as a top drawer tax attorney in Canada. That would no doubt put him on a first name basis with the people who matter among the world-class corporate sponsors of sporting events large and small.
But he's also managed to turn his marginal (by genuine Olympian standards) "fame" as an Olympic athlete into a series of well-paid and high-profile sinecures at the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Dick's major claim to fame is that he sniffed out Lance Armstrong's cheatin' ways years before Lance came clean. So did I and about a couple of thousand other pundits, but no matter; we cannot dispute that Dick was on the right side of history on that call.
He also gets a lot of mostly undeserved credit for "cleaning up" the SLC Olympics.
So with his rep as a anti-doping anti-corruption crusader, he's got some momentum behind him here. His long history of making shit up to suit his agenda probably won't be delved into too deeply. He has obviously long lusted for a spot at the very top of the global "sports" order, and this may be his moment.
There's now a move afoot to put the unctuous Canadian busy-body Dick Pound in the big chair at FIFA.
Big Dick, as he is known, has a decent day job as a top drawer tax attorney in Canada. That would no doubt put him on a first name basis with the people who matter among the world-class corporate sponsors of sporting events large and small.
But he's also managed to turn his marginal (by genuine Olympian standards) "fame" as an Olympic athlete into a series of well-paid and high-profile sinecures at the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Dick's major claim to fame is that he sniffed out Lance Armstrong's cheatin' ways years before Lance came clean. So did I and about a couple of thousand other pundits, but no matter; we cannot dispute that Dick was on the right side of history on that call.
He also gets a lot of mostly undeserved credit for "cleaning up" the SLC Olympics.
So with his rep as a anti-doping anti-corruption crusader, he's got some momentum behind him here. His long history of making shit up to suit his agenda probably won't be delved into too deeply. He has obviously long lusted for a spot at the very top of the global "sports" order, and this may be his moment.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Darkies defy Nations of Virtue, re-elect Sepp Blatter to FIFA presidency
In yet another sign that the end of the world, or at least the end of the uni-polar world dominated by the US is nigh, the members of FIFA today voted to put the old scallywag Sepp Blatter back in the big chair for four more years.
According to this story in The Guardian, while the White World (aka the Nations of Virtue) was pretty much unanimous in wanting Blatter out, he had massive support among the lesser peoples in Africa, South America, and Asia.
That must be a tough blow for the American moralists, who can't find corruption on Wall Street because they're too busy looking for it at FIFA. Look for the next round to take the form of advertiser boycotts as the major sponsors, almost universally based in the rich white nations, throw their weight around to achieve what couldn't be attained via the ballot box.
In the under-card, the Palestinians were persuaded in back-room arm-twisting sessions that involved God-knows-what degree of horse-trading, to drop their campaign to have Israel booted out of FIFA.
According to this story in The Guardian, while the White World (aka the Nations of Virtue) was pretty much unanimous in wanting Blatter out, he had massive support among the lesser peoples in Africa, South America, and Asia.
That must be a tough blow for the American moralists, who can't find corruption on Wall Street because they're too busy looking for it at FIFA. Look for the next round to take the form of advertiser boycotts as the major sponsors, almost universally based in the rich white nations, throw their weight around to achieve what couldn't be attained via the ballot box.
In the under-card, the Palestinians were persuaded in back-room arm-twisting sessions that involved God-knows-what degree of horse-trading, to drop their campaign to have Israel booted out of FIFA.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
US smites FIFA just as FIFA gets ready to toss Israel
There's been rumours aplenty for at least 25 years that the FIFA aristocracy is open to being "influenced" by cold hard cash from supplicants who may be interested in hosting a World Cup.
Until yesterday, nobody has acted on those rumours. It's been business as usual all the way. Then, the dramatic take-down in Switzerland.
You don't think the timing of this take-down had anything to do with FIFA's plans to suspend the Holy Land, do you?
Apparently Israel's banishment was to be the top item on the agenda at that FIFA meeting that was so rudely interrupted by the forces of law and order.
And isn't it more than a little suspicious that the instigator of this take-down would be the USA, a mere bit player in world football?
Until yesterday, nobody has acted on those rumours. It's been business as usual all the way. Then, the dramatic take-down in Switzerland.
You don't think the timing of this take-down had anything to do with FIFA's plans to suspend the Holy Land, do you?
Apparently Israel's banishment was to be the top item on the agenda at that FIFA meeting that was so rudely interrupted by the forces of law and order.
And isn't it more than a little suspicious that the instigator of this take-down would be the USA, a mere bit player in world football?
Friday, July 4, 2014
Goodluck gives up on Boko Haram, goes after Super Eagles instead
Compared to Boko Haram, the Super Eagles were sitting ducks.
The Eagles fell in the round of 16 to France. All in all, not that bad a showing, but Goodluck needs some positives for the front pages and was hoping the national football team would provide it.
Hardluck Jonathan subsequently ordered the arrest of the team president on his return from the World Cup.
That got the attention of global football rulers FIFA, who promptly slapped down Noluck's extra-curricular judicial efforts.
Bear in mind that this is the same President who has retained a top Washington PR firm, to the tune of $100,000 per month, to polish his image going into the next election.
After this fiasco, those smart white folks at Levick are going to up that to $200,000 a month!
The Eagles fell in the round of 16 to France. All in all, not that bad a showing, but Goodluck needs some positives for the front pages and was hoping the national football team would provide it.
Hardluck Jonathan subsequently ordered the arrest of the team president on his return from the World Cup.
That got the attention of global football rulers FIFA, who promptly slapped down Noluck's extra-curricular judicial efforts.
Bear in mind that this is the same President who has retained a top Washington PR firm, to the tune of $100,000 per month, to polish his image going into the next election.
After this fiasco, those smart white folks at Levick are going to up that to $200,000 a month!
Friday, March 21, 2014
FIFA and the international labour brokers
As Qatar scrambles to complete construction of stadia and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, FIFA is getting splattered with a bit of bad ink.
And that's too bad, because the root problem here lies not with FIFA, nor with Qatar, but with the lack of international regulation of labour brokers.
"Labour brokers" are not a new thing. In fact, there are probably labour brokers operating in your town. You may know them as "employment agencies."
Where once your local manufactories prided themselves on having their own HR department and doing their own hiring out of the community they are a part of, it has become the norm to outsource this function to employment agencies.
Employment agencies sell the employers on this as a way to cut their costs, and in this day and age of relentless cost-cutting at all costs, this is a powerful pitch.
And whatever cost-savings this outsourcing may entail, it also serves to break the bond between employer and employee.
In the age of the globalization and commodification of everything, we shouldn't be surprised that "labour," ie "work," has become just another commodity to be sourced from the cheapest international supplier.
Once the employment agency has morphed into the international labour broker, the employer-employee bond has been completely crushed. There are layers of sub-brokers and sub sub-brokers between the worker and the employer. Responsibility for the welfare of the employee is easily shed amongst the many layers of brokerage that stand between a worker from Nepal or Bangladesh and a project in Qatar being administered by a general contractor from Canada or Spain or wherever.
That's why none of the feel-good campaigns to ease the plight of Cambodian or Viet Namese or Bengali garment workers ever amount to anything. Sure, we can all agree to pay another ten cents or two dollars or whatever for a T-shirt, but that money simply gets lost among the many levels of brokers long before it ever finds its way to a $37/month garment worker.
When responsibility for worker welfare is so widely diffused, we end up with a situation wherein no one is responsible.
And that's too bad, because the root problem here lies not with FIFA, nor with Qatar, but with the lack of international regulation of labour brokers.
"Labour brokers" are not a new thing. In fact, there are probably labour brokers operating in your town. You may know them as "employment agencies."
Where once your local manufactories prided themselves on having their own HR department and doing their own hiring out of the community they are a part of, it has become the norm to outsource this function to employment agencies.
Employment agencies sell the employers on this as a way to cut their costs, and in this day and age of relentless cost-cutting at all costs, this is a powerful pitch.
And whatever cost-savings this outsourcing may entail, it also serves to break the bond between employer and employee.
In the age of the globalization and commodification of everything, we shouldn't be surprised that "labour," ie "work," has become just another commodity to be sourced from the cheapest international supplier.
Once the employment agency has morphed into the international labour broker, the employer-employee bond has been completely crushed. There are layers of sub-brokers and sub sub-brokers between the worker and the employer. Responsibility for the welfare of the employee is easily shed amongst the many layers of brokerage that stand between a worker from Nepal or Bangladesh and a project in Qatar being administered by a general contractor from Canada or Spain or wherever.
That's why none of the feel-good campaigns to ease the plight of Cambodian or Viet Namese or Bengali garment workers ever amount to anything. Sure, we can all agree to pay another ten cents or two dollars or whatever for a T-shirt, but that money simply gets lost among the many levels of brokers long before it ever finds its way to a $37/month garment worker.
When responsibility for worker welfare is so widely diffused, we end up with a situation wherein no one is responsible.
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