2014 World Cup

[Johnny English]

I read or heard somewhere that because the Qatar officials were using American dollars as bribes, the US would have some claim for jurisdiction.

I don't see how that would work, US dollars are traded all over the world for all sorts of things but it doesn't give the US any form of jurisdiction over those transactions.

[Tommy]

Accepting bribes or kickbacks isn't legal. They could definitely be prosecuted.

A simple Wiki search answered this:

"FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zurich."

[Johnny English]

A simple Wiki search answered this:

"FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zurich."

Yes, but did the offence occur in Switzerland? I'm a British citizen with permanent residence in Canada, but if I commit an offence in Australia they don't send me back to the UK or Canada for trial.

[guinness77]

A simple Wiki search answered this:

"FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zurich."

And? The point?
This means I can go to Switzerland and kill someone and then simply leave the country, scot free?

Either way, they're breaking the law and it's up to a prosecutor or a judge (I don't know how it works over there) to determine whether or not they want to press charges. Just because it's FIFA or some other organization doesn't make them exempt from the same laws everyone else has to abide by.

[Tommy]

Yes, but did the offence occur in Switzerland? I'm a British citizen with permanent residence in Canada, but if I commit an offence in Australia they don't send me back to the UK or Canada for trial.

Well we have to wait and see who it was who took bribes. If the committee members actually live and work in Switzerland then sure.

[Tommy]

And? The point?
This means I can go to Switzerland and kill someone and then simply leave the country, scot free?

Either way, they're breaking the law and it's up to a prosecutor or a judge (I don't know how it works over there) to determine whether or not they want to press charges. Just because it's FIFA or some other organization doesn't make them exempt from the same laws everyone else has to abide by.

My point is that we don't know.

[Johnny English]

Well we have to wait and see who it was who took bribes. If the committee members actually live and work in Switzerland then sure.

Everything seems to primarily focus around Mohammed Bin Hammam, a Qatari who was head of the Asian Football Federation and sat on the FIFA Exec Committee. He was kicked off the FIFA board a couple of years ago after he was found guilty of making iffy payments to Jack Warner, who was based in the Caribbean and was at the time Head of CONCACAF (he was also kicked out). The Times' story has a long way to run still, but thus far they've got Hammam taking a bunch of African Federation leaders on an all expenses paid trip to Sri Lanka and then giving them a bunch of cash.

As I've already said I don't have the first clue about international law, so I have absolutely no idea how one goes about establishing jurisdiction for that mess.

[JFIF]

From what I read, a lot of African countries were bribed in order to secure votes.

[Tommy]

From the WSJ:



Surprised to see the Netherlands so low. Even England should be higher I think.

[Ignatius J Reilly]

Come on, America!  It would be worth good money just to watch the reaction of the rest of the world if the US won the Cup.

[Badger]

I'd pay $100.

[Tommy]

Come on, America!  It would be worth good money just to watch the reaction of the rest of the world if the US won the Cup.

Watching the rest of Europe squirm when Greece won Euro 2004 was pretty funny. It would be 10 times that if the U.S won the World Cup.

That being said, I'm all about the underdogs in the WC. I'm tired of seeing the same old teams. Brazil, Italy, whatever. Give me a US - South Korea WC final.

[Johnny English]

Surprised to see the Netherlands so low. Even England should be higher I think.

England's position in that ranking doesn't surprise me, international success comes a long way behind club success in the English football psyche. I suspect that if you asked the question again but replaced "country" and "World Cup" with "club" and "top flight domestic title" England would be at or very close to the highest amount. Look at England supporters at any international game, every St George's Cross has a club name written across it.

[eyedea]

I did a pool with some friends this season, I know 0 about football (soccer) this is my bracket.

[Johnny English]

I would be very surprised if you got two thirds of the pool qualifiers correct, some of your knockout choices are plain odd and I think you completely misunderstood the Tiebreaker.