Hard to think of a modern institution as corrupt as fifa. That may not bother too many people because it’s not their government, but I just think it stinks
FIFA has been monstrously corrupt since at least as far back as the 1970s (Havelange).
I backslid this year, but did completely boycott watching in 2018 and 2022. Russia is a pariah state and should never have been allowed to host, and Qatar was manifestly unsuitable.
The only difference this year is that the bribery and political favors were out in the open.
There are levels to it. Sepp Blatter was notoriously corrupt, but Infantino makes his "envelope full of cash under the table" style of corruption look amateurish.
> Whataboutism is a word invented to deflect any criticism of western hypocrisy.
Factually false. It's a logical fallacy, because you're attempting to manipulate the audience without actually responding to the claim.
> Like antisemitism, its overuse has rendered it toothless.
Also factually false. "Antisemitism" has no agreed-upon definition. "Whataboutism" has a very concrete and well agreed-upon definition: deflecting a an argument by responding with a counter-accusation that is intended to mirror the perceived accusation.
Your whole comment as manipulative, though, so it's not surprising that you would get the definition wrong.
Eh, Russophobia is also funny, as it is typically applied to those that hate Russia, as opposed to those that fear Russia.
"Putin's apologist" as a smear on those who reject the mainstream narrative about Ukraine war (even if highly critical of Russia/Putin) is a better match.
The US has used force to unilaterally remove two heads of state this year, and is enforcing a blockade on Cuba that is wreaking havoc in an attempt to remove a third head of state.
That Russia is worse should not shield the US from criticism.
In the Dictator's Handbook the authors argued that FIFA and IOC function similar to autocratic dictatorships because there is a small group of people who are essential to power. Therefore it is rational to buy them rather than do the right thing by the fans (who have very little power). As cold as the reasoning is, the explanation stuck with me.
Their suggestion is to open up the power structure, e.g. to all past players/Olympians.
> Therefore it is rational to buy them rather than do the right thing by the fans (who have very little power)
The problem withthis is that FIFA/IOC _rely_ on the athletes, players and countries, but none of those make any money so they _can't_ be bought. The prestige and honor is the reason to compete in the world cup/olympics, and money won't change/fix that. See LIV golf for what happens when you try it.
The FIA aren’t as bad (although I might be biased as an F1 fan). They’re certainly really really terrible at optics but at least everyone involved in that is making money out of it and aren’t under the illusion that they’re doing it for the clout.
Interestingly, both FIFA and IOC are headquartered in Switzerland, a country that is ranked by Transparency International as one least corrupt countries in the world… Draw you own conclusions.
Until recently Swiss banks were pretty famously a great place to do the kind of banking needed for global scale corruption. They still sort of are as long as none of the parties have told the bank that they are American.
Switzerland might not be corrupt, but they are fine with enabling it.
One of the least corrupt countries, whose attorney general had secret meetings with Infantino when in charge of an investigation of corruption in FIFA.
A common factor seems rather that international sports orgs are often very corrupt. Would be interesting to understand why it happens systematically. Lack of good governance structures must be part of it.
I think fundamental issue is that only people who want power, money or influence get involved at highest levels. For rest operating at grass roots or slightly higher and having local impact is more important. Farther you move from there more power hungry and less passionate about underlying thing the people get.
Oh boy I couldn’t disagree more. Grassroots and local sports is absolutely plagued with politics, favouritism and corruption. Ask anyone who has been on the committee or coaching for their local kids soccer/athletics/hurling (in my case) teams - what goes on is absolutely criminal.
Probably the same way it was in Germany: in some foreign countries, where it's the cost of doing business.
Switzerland has an unusually direct democracy, which keeps their house in order. Maybe it's also what allows Switzerland to benefit from crime and corruption without getting infected with the rot.
