A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Blatter 7 votes shy of necessary 2/3's majority vote on first ballot. Proceeding to second ballot...

EDIT: Full rundown of the figures...

• 209 ballots cast
• 206 "valid" ballots returned
• 140 votes needed to win on first ballot
• 73 votes for Prince Ali
• 133 votes for Blatter

edited 29th May '15 10:09:34 AM by SeanMurrayI

Correction: First round ballots come out to 73 v 133.

Round 1 stats.

If you're wondering why the fuck people are voting for Blatter (apart from the obvious)...

PRINCE ALI HAS PULLED OUT OF THE RACE.

DEAR LEADER HAS BEEN RE-ELECTED.

I just hope he'll be in jail very soon. Presumably there's have to be another election then.

Because their FAs are as corrupt as he is. Next!

The article did provide a more valid reason; although I assume most other potential heads of FIFA would've made similar efforts to promote the sport in the second and third world. The defense of Blatter sounds a lot like complacency and inertia.

And, in exchange for mutual corruption, Africa did get a qualifying berth for the WC and, of course, the 2010 edition in South Africa.

True.

edited 29th May '15 11:53:28 AM by Quag15

There's a bit more to it, and the simple answer isn't merely just shouting, "CORRUPTION!"

Thanks to the system in place under Blatter, all member associates of FIFA receive an equal share in the organization's profits and revenue (World Cup, especially)—which greatly benefits the many small members who especially wouldn't stand a chance at qualifying for the World Cup tournament finals. San Marino gets as big a share as Italy, UK Virgin Islands gets as big a share as England, Montserrat gets as big a share as the United States, and so forth.

Blatter established a loyal coalition among the smallest members who simply do not want to lose what the system that's put in place already entitles them to.

edited 29th May '15 1:43:59 PM by SeanMurrayI

Jesus, I know this was coming, but it's really disappointing.

You might have noticed that my usual avatar Aila Jyrkiainen is missing. That's because I created a protest poster against FIFA's corruption based on the Ashley Out and Sack Pardew posters from Newcastle fans. I will be using that photo until the end of the Women's World Cup, which is when the usual Aila avatar will make her return. If you are interested in a copy, click here.◊

edited 29th May '15 12:56:52 PM by sanfranman91

Aila Jyrkiainen sounds like a semi-plausible Finnish name so I Googled it. Apparently she is Finnish. Never knew there were Finnish anime characters...

How can you forget Strike Witches? lol

I don't watch Build Fighters but I know Aila Jyrkiainen because of the Qubeley Papillon. lol

edited 29th May '15 9:57:53 PM by entropy13

Apparently, the U.S. FIFA investigation spiralled out from two separate cases - Chuck Blazer's complete inability to pay taxes... and an investigation into the Russian Mafiya. No wonder Putin's pissy.

With all that's happening, is anyone interested in the Scottish Cup Final this afternoon?

Will there be blue facepaint and Mel Gibson?

The former would interest me, the latter is a deal breaker.

Dear Leader condemns the "hate campaign" being run against him by European football officials.

So he's not blaming the British press for spreading lies about his glorious reign any more. Now he's blaming the entire European football establishment.

I'm surprised he didn't call the European FAs 'racist'.

He got enough backlash when he called the British press racist for not supporting him.

Some news and rumours:

• Spurs have signed Kevin Wimmer for £5 million. Wimmer, 22, was a key player for Cologne, with more shots blocked than any other player in the Bundesliga this season.

• David Moyes is rumoured to have received an offer from Sunderland. He had previously been linked with West Ham. The reports have him as rejecting both offers, though. He seems to be doing OK at Real Sociedad so I don't really see why he should want to return to the Premier League so soon.

• Benteke's release clause has been revealed - well, allegedly - to be at £35 million. Prices for forwards are inflated but that still seems a bit steep. Any rumours linking him with Arsenal should be dead with that, assuming that he won't be sold for anything less than the clause.

• Similarly, Jackson Martinez is said to have a release clause at £24 million. A bit more reasonable, but still probably more than he's worth. It seems reports claiming that he's already negotiating with Arsenal just keep coming but I doubt there's anything in it.

• Arturo Vidal has also been linked with a move to Arsenal. If Arsenal sell Arteta and Flamini I suppose there's room for Vidal but to be honest I don't really see the point in getting him over some of the younger options - Kondogbia and Schneiderlin chief among them - that are said to be on Arsenal's radar.

• David De Gea is set to move to Real Madrid, according to rumours. This sounds kind of plausible, what with him having a family in Spain and Real doing so well recently. Casillas would surely be sold/released to make room fir De Gea. Manchester United already have a capable 'keeper in Valdes, so they shouldn't have any trouble getting over this loss. It's not as if De Gea is necessarily better than Valdes, anyway.

• Rafael Benitez is negotiating with Real Madrid. This is also just a rumour at this point, but to be honest it makes so much sense I won't be surprised if it comes to pass. Real were too quick to fire their manager, but that's nothing new to them. Benitez will probably have the same fate a season or two from now, but he certainly has the qualities necessary to get a trophy or two for Real.

Starting next season, the FA Cup will become the Emirates FA Cup.

I heard about the Wimmer transfer from Sky Sports' website. He sounds like a promising young center-back who can play better than Sevilla's Clown or Chiriches ever will. Let's see if he's able to justify his transfer fee though...

Emirates is practically taking over the sports world at this rate. As if sponsorships for Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG, AC Milan, and the Rugby World Cup weren't enough, they're becoming the first ever Title Sponsor of the oldest soccer tournament in the world. Don't really mind it too much given the expansion of sponsorships these days, but it should be interesting to hear English opinions on the matter.

But there's been loads of FA Cup sponsors.

You have to go all the way to 2014 for the previous FA Cup sponsor: Budweiser.

True, but it's normally been "In association with..." for the likes of AXA and Budweiser. This is the first time the FA Cup is actually changing its name to include the sponsor with the tournament's title (that being Emirates FA Cup instead of FA Cup with Emirates or FA Cup in association with Emirates).