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http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/29/the_enron_of_sports_fifas_upheaval Well, Dave, you’ve been covering this for a long time. We were interviewing you in Brazil when the World Cup was there. Are you surprised? *DAVE ZIRIN:* Not surprised at all, about as surprised as I’d be if I fell in a pool and emerged wet. The only thing that is surprising here is that we’re now dealing with charges that have actual teeth. That’s the only surprise. I mean, we are talking about the Enron of sports and a hubris and arrogance that is bringing down a multibillion-dollar corporation. The only difference between FIFA and Enron is that FIFA has been designated a nonprofit by the Swiss government, which makes looking at its books and finding the extent of the corruption all the more difficult. Now, for *Democracy Now!* listeners and viewers, I could understand why people would look at the U.S. Justice Department and say, "Why can’t they be this aggressive towards the Wall Street bankers? Why can’t they be this aggressive towards police brutality?" And those viewers are absolutely correct. But people should also realize that this is a day that people should celebrate, because it is crippling one of the most corrupt multinationals that we have, sports or otherwise. *NERMEEN SHAIKH:* And, Dave, could you tell us a little bit about Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA? He wasn’t among those who was indicted, and today he’s running for president, for re-election for president of FIFA. *DAVE ZIRIN:* Yes, Sepp Blatter, as you said, he has been in charge of FIFA for 17 years. The thing about Sepp Blatter that distinguishes him from the people who were indicted is that Sepp Blatter uses his power and influence to attain more power. He’s less interested in personal enrichment than he is in influence, and this is what has allowed him to remain free of prison these last many years. Although Sepp Blatter is also—he will not get off a plane in the United States, for fear that he will be arrested. That is true. There are also people saying that he might not attend the Women’s World Cup in Canada, for fear that he might be arrested. So, you’re talking about somebody who is effectively a stateless actor, somebody who is under investigation, who will probably be re-elected for a fifth term to head FIFA . *AMY GOODMAN:* Are there any U.S. Justice Department Blatter leaks? What will happen to Blatter next, Dave? *DAVE ZIRIN:* That’s a terrific question. What is very clear is that Lorreta Lynch has Blatter in her sights. That’s why she said she wanted to uproot corruption going back 20 years. That’s Blatter’s term. And let’s be clear about this, too: The U.S. Justice Department is going after FIFA very simply because the U.S. was not awarded the 2022 World Cup. If they had been, I don’t think this investigation would be taking place. And also let’s keep in mind that the Justice Department has only gone after, at this point, a small part of the world—North America, Central America, these confederations. What it says to us is that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and if some of these FIFA vice presidents begin to talk, begin to flip, if you will, to use Mafia parlance, what we could be looking at is the bringing down of Sepp Blatter and perhaps the beginning of the end of FIFA itself. *AMY GOODMAN:* Could you talk about the revelations regarding the Clinton Foundation— *DAVE ZIRIN:* Yes. *AMY GOODMAN:* —having received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Qatari World Cup Committee— *DAVE ZIRIN:* Yes. *AMY GOODMAN:* —when Bill Clinton was serving as the U.S. World Cup delegate with the U.S. cup world delegation—the World Cup delegation? *DAVE ZIRIN:* Yes. Not only has the Clinton Foundation received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Qatar World Cup Committee, it has also received millions of dollars from the Qatari government over the last several years. And the Clintons are going to have to answer this question, because, as you said in the intro, the Qatari World Cup construction has an absolutely monstrous body count—1,200 deaths—slavery, and even the prevention of Nepalese migrant workers of going home to Nepal after the recent earthquake to go to funerals for members of their family. Now, there is this lore that’s out there in the media that Bill Clinton was so angry after the U.S. did not get the World Cup bid for 2022, he broke a mirror, and that signaled that the United States was going to get serious about corruption in the World Cup. This is mainstream media hooey. What you see much more clearly is a very bizarre, very unexplained connection between the Qatari royal family, the Qatari World Cup bid and the Clinton Foundation, which allegedly was to facilitate less labor abuses, when in reality we have not seen that at all. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
