Who will succeed Blatter as world football boss?

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The Hidden Brutality Of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup Preperations

28 May 2015

Qatar’s World Cup Slaves: The crushing truth about Qatar’s world cup bid.

In Qatar, 4000 workers will die to put on the 2022 Football World Cup. This staggering figure indicates the slave-like conditions workers of football’s most expensive construction are enduring.

Workers won’t speak out for fear of being fired, but for some, hopelessness outweighs the fear. Qatarian workers building in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup are forced into long hours on the side of roads or inside factories in the sweltering heat. Their living situations are just as trying: “We have been here for 2 months. And for 2 months we haven’t been given beds.” These workers entered into pseudo slavery due the loans they took to travel that they can’t afford to pay back, as the hope of the income they were promised was a lie. They can’t return home, and if they’re sick “the company cut [their] salary for going to the hospital”. Infocus take an inside look at the conditions of these impoverished and undervalued workers that risk overworking to the point of death, for fear of unemployment.

SCOTTISH construction workers issued a last-minute appeal to their compatriots yesterday to boycott tonight’s Qatar friendly in solidarity with the hundreds of labourers sacrificed on the altar of the World Cup in the Gulf nation: here.

From Channel 4 News in Britain:

3 June 2015

Sepp Blatter has resigned as Fifa president, with some candidates for the job making themselves known. Fifa’s ethics committee will do integrity checks. Here’s what we know already.

…

Here are the main names linked to international football’s top job:

Favourites

Prince Ali Bin al Hussein

Prince Ali won enough votes against Sepp Blatter last week to take the Fifa presidential election to a second round. He is also the first candidate to announce he would run for the presidency in the new election.

Talking to Channel 4 News on Tuesday evening, Prince Ali said: “I am very happy that the change happened.”

Asked about if the World Cup allocations to Russia and Qatar should be reconsidered he said that “every country has the right to host the World Cup” but that his key consideration is human rights – specifically referring to Qatar’s use of Asian migrants workers.

However, in the Jordanian royal’s home country they still also use the kafala system as in Qatar, where world cup stadia construction workers cannot change jobs or even leave the country without the permission of their sponsoring company. …

Michael Platini, the Uefa president, did not want to stand against Sepp Blatter in the most recent election. He may now see this as the time to put himself forward.

The former France captain called Mr Blatter’s decision to step down a “brave decision”. However, when the corruption allegation emerged at Fifa’s congress last week he said he was “sick of it” and said that he had advised Mr Blatter to resign.

In 2010 Platini had a famous lunch with Nicolas Sarkozy (then president), the crown prince of Qatar Tamin bin Haman al-Thani, and a representative of an investment fund that then owned Paris St Germain football club – ten days before Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup.

Platini subsequently voted for the Qatari bid and the Qataris bought Paris Saint Germain, through an investment company called Qatari Sports Investments (QSI). …

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa

News

The head of the Asian football confederation – a bloc that backed Mr Blatter in the recent election – could take advantage of Mr Blatter’s departure to pick up some of the country’s that were loyal to him.

The Bahraini royal may also get the support [of] Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a sports powerbroker from Kuwait, who has also been touted as a potential presidential candidate.

Following Mr Blatter’s re-election, Sheikh Salman said: “The AFC has always supported the Fifa president and we are happy to continue working with him and Fifa to further develop Asian and world football into the future,”

However, Sheikh Salman has himself been at the centre of scandal – in this case over the alleged arrest and torture of Bahraini footballers.

In 2013 three human rights organisations wrote to Fifa asking for the sheikh’s nomination as AFC president be overturned due to the allegations. A number of Bahraini sportsmen were arrested and imprisoned for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011.

Sheikh Salman was alleged to have helped identify footballers who took part.

“We would like to bring to your kind attention the most important acts of revenge carried out by Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa against groups that are affiliated with football,” The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights wrote to Sepp Blatter. …

Diego Maradona

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has suggested Argentina’s favourite son take up the Fifa presidency.

British Prince William spearheads UK campaign against FIFA, targeting Russia: here.

In a two-part feature, IAN COYNE argues that Greg Dyke’s call for Uefa nations to boycott Russia 2018 has more to do with corporate interests than a desire to stamp out corruption and improve the rights of workers in Qatar: here.

In the second of two parts, IAN COYNE continues his argument that Greg Dyke’s call for Uefa nations to boycott Russia 2018 has more to do with corporate interests than a desire to stamp out corruption and improve the rights of workers in Qatar: here.

US seizes on FIFA corruption to pursue campaign against Russia: here.

US imperialism and the FIFA corruption investigation: here.