The Rest of Us Pay for Ego-Driven Political Meddling

By NICK ZAIAC, MAY 29, 2015

Rumors of corruption in the world of international sports are everywhere. Shady advertising deals, fixed matches, and other misconduct amount to open secrets in the sports world. Sochi’s Winter Olympics were well understood to be more a front for graft than a sports competition.+

Yet, somehow, last week’s arrest of top FIFA officials stands out above the rest, and, if true, would be one of the most egregious events in the history of corruption in sports.+

The arrests stem from, among other allegations, bribery over the choice of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup sites. Awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively, both choices had been widely panned. FIFA even admitted that they would be forced to move the 2022 World Cup’s start date because outdoor games in the desert summer are simply not viable.+

There is something particularly troubling about how governments interfere with sports. Such games exist for customers who watch them; they are apolitical. The winner of a particular tournament does not matter to non-fans in any tangible way. It doesn’t matter if this is a game of baseball in a local park or the World Series; a game is a game.

Yet, government officials worldwide see sports as tools. They take apolitical activities like sports and use them as chess pieces in the world of geopolitics. The locations of major international events like the World Cup and the Olympics are quintessential examples. Countries don’t spend billions of dollars bidding for and hosting these events because they want to see more of the games played.+

Politicians promise voters many benefits from mega-events, yet few ever materialize in the long run. They unequivocally are not net positives for the economy, as boosters say. They often lead to costly investments in unnecessary infrastructure that sees minimal use after the crowds leave. Cities are left with piles of debt, and white-elephant facilities that go unused. While there have been exceptions to this, the normal result trends negative, not positive.

snip

None of this will be done in time. The Olympic sailing venue will need to be moved because the water is too polluted to sail on. The World Cup stadium built in Brasilia, the capital, is now used as a bus parking lot. The Brazilian government over promised both the benefits of hosting and that they could make the necessary improvements to be a host at all, and they have failed.+

The story is the same for the Sochi Olympics, the most expensive in history. Something has clearly gone wrong when there is not enough snow for a snow-sports competition. This says nothing about the initial choice to put the 2022 World Cup outside in the Qatari desert.

Would any sporting body not under the influence of government make mistakes like this in choosing the location for its events? Certainly not, and that might be the most damning evidence that governments have harnessed sports for their own gain. Sports are no longer innocent, apolitical games, but blunt tools to achieve political gains.+

snip

http://panampost.com/nicholas-zaiac/2015...poisons-sports/

[Are you ready for a two-fer? Here's the kicker on the choice of Qatar for 2022? ...a 2nd article. TM]

Corrupt FIFA Has Clinton Foundation Ties; World Cup Host Qatar Gave Millions

By Jackie Kucinich, 5/27/15

Both Bill Clinton and his family’s charity have been tied to soccer’s governing body, as well as Qatar’s disastrous World Cup bid.
And just like that, another Clinton Foundation donor is in the news.

The Clinton global charity has received between $50,000 and $100,000 from soccer’s governing body and has partnered with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association on several occasions, according to donor listings on the foundation’s website.

Several top FIFA executives were arrested Wednesday in Zurich and face corruption charges stretching back two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

[why didn't they scoop up the Clinto duo while they were at it? TM]

Involvement with the embattled body extends beyond the foundation to Bill Clinton himself. The former president was an honorary chairman of the bid committee put together to promote the United States as a possible host nation for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

When the U.S. lost the 2022 bid to Qatar, Clinton was rumored to be so upset he shattered a mirror.

But apparently Qatar tried to make it up to him.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, partnering with the State of Qatar, “committed to utilizing its research and development for sustainable infrastructure at the 2022 FIFA World Cup to improve food security in Qatar, the Middle East, and other arid and water-stressed regions throughout the world,” according to the Clinton Foundation website.

The cost of the two-year project is not listed on the Clinton Foundation website, but the Qatar 2022 committee gave the foundation between $250,000 and $500,000 in 2014 and the State of Qatar gave between $1 million and $5 million in previous, unspecified years.

FIFA, which has never been a bastion of ethics, was heavily criticized for awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar, respectively, in part because of their abysmal human-rights records.

for more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...e-millions.html