Sunday, June 1, 2014

Questions surround FIFA

From where I sit it looks like FIFA is facing more trouble...

via fifa.com

North Americans love a conspiracy. From JFK to 9/11 there always people looking for answers to anything they can't understand or have trouble accepting. Let's face it there are plenty of conspiracy theories about sports. Does anyone think the NHL isn't thrilled the Rangers are in the final? Against either LA or Chicago, both of those are major US markets, it's perfect. Sadly, in the world of FIFA those conspiracies are all too real. The outcome of games in any sport can result in massive payouts for those placing wagers on the game. So, it's hardly surprising when players or even officials fall to temptation. The greater concern is obvious. For starters questions are swirling around the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2022. Millions of dollars in payments for a country without the best human rights record. Add to that the lack of proper climate it's easy to question the legitimacy of the process. Now these latest allegations of match fixing create a series of questions about the World Cup in a couple of weeks. Managing an event of this size is difficult enough without the added pressure of sniffing out corruption to the game itself. In Sochi, the compromised building process was well documented. However, once the games themselves got underway all of that fell to the wayside. The picture in Brazil is, as amazing as this sounds, bleaker. Not only was the building process questionable, but it looks like the matches could be too.

At least that's how I see it, and I sit in the cheap seats.

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