Photo: Ken Field- esri.com
Those familiar with My Blogs know well that, ‘Corruption’ has been a constant subject of discussion and reflection. Below I have noted a few recent postings, examples amongst many:
Corruption, Corruption,... Corruption, Everywhere
An Open Letter to Prof. Klaus Schwab, WEF, Davos
Open Letter to Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
On the eve of London Anti- Corruption Summit- Values-led action to eradicate corruption
Today, the subject of my Blog concerns the so-called “The Beautiful Game”, a game that has sunk to its nadir of decadence; where everybody is up for sale: A game that has encouraged greed, lust, malicious envy, gluttony and more at the expense of honour, courage, loyalty, beauty, decency, true championship and achievement.
Let me explain these points a bit more by quoting a few passages from an excellent article by Simon Jenkins in today’s Guardian:
‘The truth of the matter is that these sports reek of money, and money unregulated or uncontrolled soon reeks of corruption. In the absence of self-discipline, and shielded by dubious members of the accountancy profession, these organisations have only one thing to fear – and that is embarrassment’
“I cannot take seriously sports I used to love when I cannot trust what I see before my eyes. I was baffled at the reason for last-minute player substitutions in football matches, until I was told these were fee-sharing deals. Cricket’s dropped catches and no-balls turned out to be paid for. British cyclists who suddenly won gold medals had superior equipment to other competitors. How did Qatar get to hold a summer World Cup, or Russia a winter Olympic games? You can guess. Are we soon to learn that referees are bribed for the inexplicable penalties that decide most rugby matches?
“George Orwell referred to sport as “bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence” – and he was writing when it was amateur. Now there is money at stake, Cameron had to fawn at Sepp Blatter’s door, and confer on IOC bosses the extraordinary honour of Olympic traffic “Zil lanes” across London. Murky organisations may claim to be overseeing “ethics”. But why pay them any heed? When Russia is halfheartedly thrown out of the 2016 Olympics, it retaliates with that new weapon of international conflict, the hacked email and leaked health record. That should make the IOC quake.
“These bodies are run by self-perpetuating cliques sustained in various tax havens by other self-perpetuating cliques in member states. Fifa was rumbled last year only when the media gathered enough evidence for Swiss police, on behalf of the US authorities, to arrest its officials for “racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering and corruption” over many decades. The FA cannot have been unaware of the stink of corruption emanating from Fifa.
“As long as the financial and political rewards to international sport are so inflated, it is doubtful whether its rulers will ever truly come clean. The IOC has yet to purge doping in its sports and probably never will. The concept of what is a drug and what is performance enhancement is forever changing. The remedy for an honest sport, or an honest country, is to decline to collaborate with these international junkets. They should play “friendlies” and hope against hope that Fifa and the IOC will one day go the way of cock-fighting and all-in wrestling. The moral is never to trust a governor you cannot remove with a vote.
“Everyone in “football street” appeared to know what Allardyce was talking about. They just did not like it being known by others. As long as these people indulge the greed of international sport, the only discipline they will acknowledge is embarrassment. That is why the only person they really fear is the investigative journalist.”
Read the original article:
As long as greed governs global sport, corruption will be endemic
Read More:
Exclusive: The explosive allegations at the top of the Championship
Watch the video- Football for Sale-Modern-Day Slavery
Sam Allardyce, Harry Redknapp and the full story of Football For Sale - watch our documentary
And now, finally a Message for the Fans
Photo: servedfreshmedia.net
You, who are ultimately funding the game: With its culture of dollar-chasing and rule-avoidance
I wish to share with you an article by Sean Ingle, written in 2005. Please read it (See below). Its words and sentiments even truer today than 11 years ago:
“Football fans are idiots”
“Football fans are idiots. Or, to rephrase that sentence using less incendiary language: when it comes to football, intelligent people act stupid. And yes, that probably includes you.
After all, you remain hooked on a sport that has, over the past decade, become as competitive as a F1 warm-up lap - while at the same time taking ever-larger chunks out of your salary. Smart people would stand up to such exploitation. Football fans prefer to revel in their "hardcore" commitment.
Even if a match is shunted to some unholy hour to accommodate Sky, you think nothing of travelling hundreds of miles to sit in a stadium with all the atmosphere of a wake, to show loyalty to your club. The same club that's always thinking of ingenious new ways to bleed you dry.”…Continue to read
What is to be done?
Football: ‘The Beautiful Game!’ “…is now a truly and increasingly ugly mix of values-free, Thatcherite greed and Gradgrindian inequality. It needs to be taken down a peg - and supporters are the best ones to do it.
“So, here's a plan of sorts. Start by refusing to become a slave to football's pointless merry-go-round every summer.”
Show them that you are not fools anymore: Boycott “The Ugly Game” until such a time that it becomes “The Beautiful Game”, that it once was.
Yes. You can do it!
Indeed, you must. Why?
Because you are their paymasters. You pay their wages.
See the figures below and then compare them to your own wages.
Be wise! Boycott them!
The Beautiful Game and the Beautiful Ball Kickers!!
Can any body sane enough, justify this sort of immorality for paying the footballers (for kicking balls!) this sort of money? See a few examples below: Shame on all those who have made this immorality possible:
Annual: GBP 56,187,611.00
Monthly: GBP 4,682,301.00
Weekly: GBP 1,080,531.00
Daily: GBP 153,939.00
Soccer player Manchester United
Annual: GBP 17,946,903.00
Monthly: GBP 1,495,575.00
Weekly: GBP 345,133.00
Daily: GBP 49,170.00
Football player Manchester United
Annual: GBP 25,815,929.00
Monthly: GBP 2,151,327.00
Weekly: GBP 496,460.00
Daily: GBP 70,729.00
Football player Manchester City/New York City FC
Annual: GBP 13,598,230.00
Monthly: GBP 1,133,186.00
Weekly: GBP 261,504.00
Daily: GBP 37,255.00
Annual: GBP 60,743,363.00
Monthly: GBP 5,061,947.00
Weekly: GBP 1,168,142.00
Daily: GBP 166,420.00
Annual: GBP 24,849,558.00
Monthly: GBP 2,070,796.00
Weekly: GBP 477,876.00
Daily: GBP 68,081.00