Fifa enters uncharted territory

Are the BBC allowing comments on this one, or are they all going to be removed again

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I doubt if any comment about this debacle will make it past the moderator, but I will try.
It is clear that these career politicians will have a number of corrupt people among them - just like those in the UK. I hear lots of names but do not recognise any of them as footballing greats. Maybe even at my advanced years I am not old enough to remeber them. If the organisation was not tainted why have the honest greats not applied to provide governance for the game that they love - Bobby and Jack Charlton, Platini, King Kenny, Craig Brown, Beckebauer etc.? Simple, they don't want to be tainted.

We all know the truth about FIFA and a large percentage of their delegates, but are we allowed to say anything about them without being moderated?

I doubt it

Surely Bin Hamman needs to withdraw from the Election race and if Blatter had any dignity he should to. IF bribery and corruption are proved, it shows without question, FIFA is rotten. As the head of FIFA, Blatter needs to take responsibility as the buck stops with him.

David, can you answer a few questions please?
1) Why have the FA not made a statement?
2) Are the FA brave enough to request the FIFA election is postponed?
3) Why did the FA not put forward their own leadership candidate or look to support a country who had other ideas?
4) How easy is it for the FA and other FA's from around the world to resign from FIFA?
5) IS it possible we could see different boards of control like boxing & darts?

A very sad state of affairs indeed. Still, I much prefer the truth comes out now rather than years after these people have left their posts at whichever organisation they belong to.

It appears the general consensus is that change has been needed for quite sometime, and not just a change in leadership, but many aspects of the whole running of the game, so there is never a good time for this to all come out, but the fact that it IS all coming out at all is a very good thing for the integrity of the game.

I will have no sympathy for the wrongdoers if allegations are proved, and I couldn't care less about the timing of such allegations. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.

Here's hoping 'the beautifull game' will stay that way (...because I really can't get into American sports that much)

We've been here before with Warner, and the selling of WC tickets on the black market, for which he was found guilty and fined - which he still hasn't paid up in full.

It may be Blatter politicking, but Warner certainly has previous and has always been somewhat dodgy (he tends to ask for money for his country to be sent to his personal account, which ought to ring an awful lot of alarm bells), and hopefully this time something will be done about it.

I still think the UK needs to do a one-off international competition to:

1) show we can host large competitions
2) boost the economy
3) show FIFA they're not necessarily needed

So, we have two candidates for leader of the FA, neither of whom come from countries with credible football leagues. One of the most powerful people in FIFA and now accused in this latest episode is from a region that produced Dwight York and then failed to grow on that. They should resign en masse and let real football people run the game. It's a bit like a multi million pound version of the blazers that run club cricket - without the integrity.

Surely FIFA as an organisation should postpone the elections taking place and then put up two or three different candidates and not allow either Blatter or Hamman to run for office.

The Panorama program last Monday shows that even the Swiss Government have put pressure on them to show they are clean.

This will all blow over; as the alternative is far worse, you will end up with a Boxing type scenario.

Three of the four main bodies in boxing: World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO), were created from internal struggles in the fourth the World Boxing Association (WBA), indeed the WBA itself morphed from an American based organization to a Latin based one in the mid 70s.

I would rather stomach Blatter myself...

@3 - Beckenbauer is already a member of Fifa's executive committee.

David- "The general secretary of that confederation is the American Chuck Blazer. Despite his long standing ties to Warner - who is Concacaf president and effectively his boss -Blazer.........."

So, there it is, Chuck Blazer is 'gunning' for his boss - one wonders why?

I should forget it David, this is another round of FiFa 'blindsiding'

In any case the English FA has 'taken the FiFa shilling' long enough, there is bound to be some indelible stains somewhere in the FA/FiFa past - be careful what you wish for!!

I agree TBooze, boxing is a joke and has been for many years, but if that what it takes to get rid of Blatter and change FIFA so be it.

England Germany France Spain and perhaps a few others should all resign from FIFA and along with Brazil and Argentina set up their own competition.

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Complain all you want, but the individual Football associations need to take some responsibility. The 200+ associations that are voting next week could all abstain, and send a real message. Will they, of course not because they are being promised the world by the candidates.

I dont understand how beautiful game has such people in charge. Its like a fiefdom. Old men running a young man's game.

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I dont know how many of you saw or read the book" All the Presidents Men" about the Watergate scandal and how the character known as "Deeepthroat" told Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to "follow the money". In the end this is how FIFA will be brought to its knees.
I believe the brazen attitude of the executive of FIFA was 2022 who cares? We will be either very old men or dead. I believe that in the end Qatar WONT get the 2022 World Cup. I dont think anything will be proved with Russia and to be honest I dont see why Russia should not have the World Cup. Maybe ,not everything was "kosher" with the Russian bid, but was it with ours? And that is why the FA dont really want to get involved , or at least stay on the sidelines.
In the end like Nixon, FIFA will get its comeuppance.I knew and prayed that one day retribution would be handed out to FIFA after the disgrace involving South Korea-Italy in the World Cup in 2002. The referee Byron Moreno was later banned from refereeing over another issue. Soon it will be the time for FIFA'S retribution.

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I think it's quite entertaining.

I dont think there is anything from with oiling the wheels to make things happen more smoothly

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Guys (and gals):

1) We did all this yesterday.

2) FIFA don't care what the world thinks. Therefore they are not "in crisis".
Think of them like the MCC , or the Lawn Tennis Association.

3) If the FA 'opt out' of FIFA, they opt out of UEFA as well. This means no World Cup, no Euro Champs, no Champions League, and, (are you reading this Fulham), no Europa League.

4) This means the best players will stop coming, the attractiveness to Sky falls, TV payments reduce, and you start a potentially irreversible downward spiral.

5) The football community doesn't care what the FA thinks....look at the support for our 2018 bid.

We all know the truth about FIFA and a large percentage of their delegates, but are we allowed to say anything about them without being moderated?

I doubt it

----------------------------------------------------------------------

As i have found out to my dismay, no

Ok, will try this..............

They will always help out their fellow associations and I imagine that gives them an enormous sense of well being and pride.

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FIFA is no longer fit for purpose, it is a small group of business men who know little or nothing about football and are only interested in lining their own pockets. Why can't we have former professionals running the global game with the men in suits working beneath them?

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Let's hope FIFA take action this time.

We in the UK can also hurt them for their percieved rejection of our bid for 2018 because of highlighting alledged corruption.

This would take the course of boycotting all the official sponsors products for 2014 and 2018 - which will not doubt be an American beer and a burger bar that calls itself a restaurant.

If we advise the sponsors the reason for the objection they may think twice about sponsoring (or the value of sponsoring) future events.

I think its fairly obvious what's going on at fifa anyone with half a brain should be able to work it out and but yet no one can say it as they get moderated if they do

Here's one to think about. FIFA don't want goal-line technology or indeed any sort of assistance in refereeing the game beyond human beings.

Why? The party line seems to be that the game will lose it soul if it is not officiated from the bottom to the top in the same fashion. The way I look at it, the stance may or may not be related to the fact that you can't pay off a camera...

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Goal-line technology, eh? That would mean that we might get a fairer outcome in a football match, less chance of 'human error' and all that.
Maybe Rep. of Ireland's qualifier vs France might have turned out differently if we'd had some technology to help spot the Thierry Henry handball, that only the entire planet witnessed but the referee and two linesman managed to miss.
No surprise that the seeded team (France) ended up qualifying over the non-seeded team... just imagine the potential loss in advertising revenue and TV rights if a small country had eliminated a large country before the Group Stages had even begun...
Whilst FIFA have certain individuals remaining in key posts, football will still remain open to criticism of potential corruption...

i think we should be talking to the football chiefs in spain,france,germany,italy,brazil and argentina with a view to pulling out of fifa, this would cripple fifa into oblivion unless they changed their ways. all we want as football fans is for things to be done honestly and correctly. it seems that all these high profile fifa delegates are only in it, to milk the fat cow and football is a sideshow. i can accept that russia can hold a world cup, but cannot agree that qatar can hold a world cup when temperatures will be dangerous for some players who cannot cope in high temperatures. and can these fifa delegates not be prosecuted by their respective authorities?

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i know this is a contentious issue so ill word my comment accordingly......

fifa is currupt, rotten to the core and the people who run it are bent as a seven bob note.....

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Given the seriousness of these allegations and the persons around whom it is centered it brings the whole sorry mess of the World Cup voting into disrepute.
It was completely ridiculous (and still is) that it was awarded to a Nation with 0 international Football history, and more so to hold it at the height of summer when Temperatures would be beyond reasonable to play.
The proposed WC tournament for Qatar should be scrapped and a new discussion and vote (transparent to all) to determine where that particular tournament should be held, for obvious reasons I prefer England, but it would be better anywhere but Qatar.
If the whole mess is not sorted out and satisfactorily, perhaps we should look to the UEFA to run a "world cup" competition at least they have the trust of there members.
At the very least we should withdraw all support from FIFA and if that involves withholding fees etc, then that should be done as well.
The FIFA President and the Committee have a lot to answer before we consider placing our trust in them again!

Re 15. Whilst this might seem a nice idea, I believe that there are smaller honest Associations out there who would suffer as a consequence of the major countries withdrawal from FIFA.

Perhaps a better way to go would be for the larger wealthier nations to host small invitation tournaments so as to benefit the decent FAs around the world, but exclude FIFA. This would allow FIFA time to get clean or get out.

In hosting these tournaments, other rule changes and technologies could be tested.

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Seems the moderators are busy again!

Let the people speak!

I think England should pull out of all Fifa competitions until they sort themselves out!!! Fifa makes me sick!

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This is beyond astonishing. Warner is running his own spam scam thing. Blatter doing his best Vito Corleone impression..."I take no joy to see men who stood by my side for some two decades suffer through public". What the hell? This is so much like a mafia it's not even a joke any more.

Why is Sepp Blatter being made into the devil incarnate? Hes done some good in the game, like stopping the Premier League play a 39th round of games abroad, in search of millions.

Panorama broadcast a programme in September 2006 alleging corruption in English football - maybe we need to take a look closer to home?

Why did the FA play a friendly match in Trinidad in 2008? We all know the reason why. Just because England didnt get the world cup, we decide to throw our toys out of the pram. I think we should first concentrate on building a team capable of doing well in these tournaments, rather then winning the right to host one and being utterly embarrassed. I was happy Russia and Qatar won the bids - the football world doesnt revolve around this country.

Aries22 unfortunately the BBC has gone PC mad so you are definitely not allowed an opinion!! The F1 boards are a good example if you have ever looked at them because you have pro Alonso fans calling Hamilton everything under the sun which don't get moderated and when the pro Hamilton fans react in the same way about Alonso they get moderated!!! It's stupid!!! I am suprised the BBC hasn't removed the B just in case it may offend someone!

12.
At 15:42 26th May 2011, Aarfy_Aardvark - save 606 wrote:

@3 - Beckenbauer is already a member of Fifa's executive committee.

And look how the German league is run in comparison

Time to withdraw from the FIFA world cup and set up an open world cup with the simple rule that this year's winners host it or get to nominate where it's held.

I'm sure we could convince the other leagues to join in and leave the AbuDhabi and Yemen world cups to be handled by FIFA.

This situation has not changed since Blatter took control. It would seem that the only way to change FIFA is to change the corporate culture and that’s not going to happen with the present incumbents. They have become part of the system and therefore are beyond repair.

I blame UEFA, lets face it UEFA has the most power in FIFA and if it wanted to, just a word from them and FIFA starts barking with a different voice. The fact is that a discredited FIFA is just what UEFA wants as they can stand back and continue to be the real power in world football.

Someone here asked why doesn’t Platini put himself up for FIFA President well the answer is simple if you are the equivalent to the President of the USA why would you want to swap that for the lesser power of General Secretary of the United Nations or even President of France you wouldn't you would be giving up too much power.

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Saturday's big game would be an opportunity for those attending to offer Mr Blatter (no doubt invited) some career development advice in written(banner) or verbal (chant) form.

Also, hope you folks at the BBC are working on the documentary "Blatter: the Downfall"

this "new" information published by the BBC is rather disappointing. i have read the email and do not see any wrongdoing evidence.where is the offer,the quid pro quo??
this campaign is tiresome and unbecoming.people are suggesting the english FA should break away and form a new organization?? with whom dare i ask?? it will be a rude shock when even wales demurs.
south africa lost out a few years ago to germany where was the BBC then.
if the english FA are sincere they should actively be voting against blatter not abstaining.the rest of the world looks and sees Europeans looking after their own.in FIFA there are 200 odd votes and no doubt some unsavoury things have gone down FROM DAY ONE.
the humiliation of the english does not make the need for reform any more acute and no amount of campaigning by the english or BBC will change that. truth is the status quo is skewed in favour of europe which has had the world cup every 8 years whilst asia africa,south america and others are sidelined .the world is changing and any reforms will have to tackle several issues and wounded english pride cannot be a priority. we are streetwise enough to know a campaign when we see one. even the Scots don't wanna know. give it a rest .

The FIFA blogs are something I don't understand. Since the BBC don't like people talking about FIFA and keep removing people's comments, why not present it as an article not for discussion? It would make sense.

Absolutely pointless.

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I predicted some months ago that there was more to come on FIFA. I have also written that there is a major problem with how FIFA is set up and run. Increasingly it has become more static and there to preserve people in a position. I would like to see a new executive committee which has one seat to the leaders of continental associations UEFA, CAF etc. The presidency should rotate in turn every four years between associations. That would ensure no one individual personality dominates the presidency for years.
The bidding process for all World Cups should be rotated between continents to ensure the game is truly global. That way the bidding process would be pretty much taken care within a continent, eliminating the need for countries to chase and make promises.

yes an englishwoman is not miss world?? there must have been bribery invovled.
no possible other logical explanation

Abdi- Franz Beckenbauer has resigned from FIFA He voted for Australia to get the 2022 World Cup and he knows how Qatar got it. Honestly , you dont need to be an EINSTEIN to know how Qatar got the games and WHY . Franz Beckenbauer is an honourable man he has put on record that it was a disgrace how England's and Australia's bid was treated by FIFA.But the problem is also Platini head of UEFA. Platini is heir apparent to Blatter and Platini wont dont anything to upset Blatter.
FIFA is rotten to the core, but most of the rotton apples are sticking together. BUT fall it will and it wont be long now!

certainly more english bile to come keep retching.won't change much because most other Fifa members are content and won't miss the english

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this sour grapes rant is indeed typical.you think you are better than others who lost out in previous bids.
truth is compared to the bidding when south africa lost to germany this last one was unremarkable and has been forgotten by everyone else.all we have are a medley of allegations and the dishonest english hope that many allegations will equal corruption. conveniently forgetting that this last vote was the most scrutinized in history.

No chance of any country leaving FIFA, major ones I mean. There's simply too much cash sloshing about and every country/unelected FA mandarin wants a share.

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Ok, so now my posts at 41 and 47 have both been removed, despite re-writes.
BBC, what is the point of inviting comments if you are not going to allow opinions?
Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. Let's hope everything gets swept under the carpet at Fifa and the football world comes out all sweetness and light.
How's that? Better?

we hear so much about the english sense of fair play.well where is it now?allegations are made and people are quick to judge condemn.
simple question any evidence of one FIFA official who received a bung in the last vote
and from whom
just one???.

not all this vague juvenile innuendoes

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jagajaga,

Okay I get it, you don't much like the English. Alas, I am American and I see the flawed process of the 2022 Qatar bid-England you will remember didn't bid for 2022 and I believe Russia offered a fine bid to beat England.
Regardless of your opinions on England, don't use it as an excuse to defend FIFA. That is like saying 'my enemies enemy must be my friend'.

JagaJaga-And why do you think the other FIFA members are content? When Blatter and Platini and their band of brothers come to Wembley on Saturday I agree with the contibuter that suggested that we should let these "gentlemen" know what we think of them!

simple question any evidence of one FIFA official who received a bung in the last vote
and from whom
just one???.

not all these vague juvenile innuendoes

#73
The evidence has been provided, you are just choosing to ignore it. FIFA themselves suspended two members prior to the vote.

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exactly what do you mean by "FLAWED PROCESS" that you disagree with the outome? the process is not new so i really do not understand you was it okay when the US got the world cup in 1994.
was it any more flawed when SA lost out to germany,in your mind you might seem right just realise that in international affairs there are other perspectives no one is supernatural.

my point is a simple one. whether or not the process is flawed is debatable but it was not different in any significant way from what has gone before and so the noise is disproportionate except that those who lost this time felt they are too big to lose

#73
Further if FIFA or any member is accused is innocent then FIFA has nothing to fear. But even you can't defend the latest situation where FIFA members are accusing other FIFA members of offering/taking bungs.

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Where there is Brass there is Muck (no I haven't got it wrong) always has been, always will be. It only makes people hot under the collar when the very greedy
get super greedy. For years 'amateur' players in this country got boot money (illegal payments), the club paying the most boot money got the best players. When it got out of hand we all became Players.
Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em...................and so ad infinitum!

Fifa, ethics, committee. Friendly, fire. Military, intelligence. Spot the link?

it is called WORLD CUP not G8 CUP not NATO Cup not even BEST FOOTBALL NATIONS CUP so its purpose or path is not to be determined by a few powerful countries

#76

The process was different for the 1994 World Cup to the USA.

The current process is flawed. The FIFA committee that assessed the bids ranked Qatar last. The Qatar bid did not satisfy many requirements and ultimately a World Cup is going to be played in 10 stadiums in one city. If Leeds, Las Vegas, Rotterdam or any other city in the world won a World Cup with 90% of the games to be played in that city there should be questions asked as to why?

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#81

Yes, that is why I called for continental rotation with each confederation proposing two bid candidates.
Take out all the horse trading and deals and allow CAF, UEFA, CONCACAF etc to vote and come up with their nominees. An easy selection process is needed and one that truly spreads the game. At present bidders are beholden to the influences and wishes of top FIFA executives. I don't think it is healthy or good for the game.

@77 am i FIfA's lawyer. any way your reasoning is specious.
the issue is not whether or not they have anything to fear this is an unneessary distraction.if there is wrongdoing it should be dealt with in the normal way. these are after all criminal allegations.i do not think sensationalism or trial by media is the way to go. recently the IMF president was accused of some crimes and is now before the courts let the courts decide not this charade. clearly Sepp blatter remains in office with the support of the european FAs so england appear isolated and can either go to court or quit FIFA. if you believe the proess is bad change it democratically not by this contrived campaign

@jagajaga, you've made at least 6 posts now, all effectively saying the same thing, all alleging English arrogance or bitterness. I think you've made your point now thanks and I cannot agree with you. Fact is, if there is corruption (and I say this from a neutral point of view) then it needs to be investigated. Those with great power demand great accountability, within FIFA or any other organisation. Trouble is that great power can also corrupt inevitably as the stakes are so high. Therefore I'd be voting for someone with character above anything else. Same goes for a politician, the FA or the Chairman of Governors of a school. I may not agree, but if I can trust someone, I'm much happier. The best FIFA candidate is the one who can be trusted. The murky waters have made that very difficult to discern.

'@82 simply untrue

at any rate whether it is flawed or not is irrelevant the rules were clear to all partiipants and they were not forced to participate .to criticize the outcome is hypocrisy.of course it is ok to seek to change the process for the future let us leave russia and qatar alone anything else is churlish

Ok lets forget about FIFA, England puts up a summer bi-annual football tournament for the worlds top ranked 8 teams consisting currently of Spain, Holland, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, England, Uruguay and Portugal. The event is sponsored by a Famous TV satallite provider and a famous soft drink producer 'thats the real thing' etc TV rights are sold right around the world. Two groups of 4, top 2 qualify for the semis and then its the final......can you imagine!..... This thing could snow ball..... come on powers that be....lets show FIFA that they have got some competition here!

should have added that with the involvement of the large organisations with regards to sponsorship and global TV rights etc, it is not inconceivable that the winners could take home 100 million £'s and the runners up 50 Million, that would surley wake up other FA's to come and join us.

@zee4
i agree with u corruption should be investigated and there have been and still are investigations people are quite selective when facts do not match their agenda.however everything i have read suggests that corruption has already been established(NOT TRUE) while i have not heard even a clear allegation linking corruption to the last bid in any tangible way just vague innuendo.no names, dates or sums of money actually paid for votes delivered.the world cup bidding is over and those who lost appear to be bad losers,i quite enjoy posting because right now i am bored.if it irks you why not bang your head against something hard

jagajaga

Your hatred of anything English shines through and frankly borders on racism in my opinion.

When there are only two candidates in an election (was there only our friend Sepp last time?) it's not difficult to guess who people will vote for. Also aren't there a total of 208 FA's that vote? Not just European FA's?

jags, can you get off the board now mate, you are just writing to fuel your own self importance.... it did have some substance... but now.... well, its having the same affect on us as the way you are feeling right now.

'@88 england does not have that kind of pulling power.how many no english supporters would pay to watch the current national team not a great spectacle .that is what is the crux here a distorted perception of the place of english football in the world. english football is NOT the same thing as the PREMIERSHIP.

The English (and other home nations) FA's have always kept a distance from FIFA since it's earliest days. This could be seen as a good thing as we are not as tainted as we might have been otherwise.

However, only last week, Sepp Blatter referred to the English FA as "the number one association in the world", and this week Bin Hamman recognised the English FA as " the oldest association in the world and England's position as the birthplace of the modern game, is one of the most important institutions in world football".

Now is a unique chance for the FA to take a lead in pressuring FIFA into reform or encouraging other leading football nations into forming a breakaway organisation.

It seems they whey would have support of our press (for once), of politicians who (many of whom are calling for change), and of most football fans in this country.

If they can get the right characters on board from within our own game, as well as other experts (legal, political, sporting) from around the country, they can start an organised an concerted campaign against corruption in FIFA.

There are already those disgruntled with the handling of the recent World Cup bidding, such as USA, Australia, and Spain. They should work on gaining support of other significant footballing countries, using the current high status of club football as leverage, to exert pressure on FIFA.

Perhaps they could work on the threat of a breakaway club competitions from the biggest domestic leagues and perhaps a alternative international tournament involving many of the bigger nations.

Ultimately, the way to effect change at FIFA will be by threatening their lucrative income sources. Anything that would make the bigger sponsor organisations (Addidas, Master Card, etc.) think seriously about pulling away from FIFA, or provide a alternative competitions for TV companies to get interested in, will be the most effective way of bringing FIFA to its senses.

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Sorry jags...... England are currently ranked 8th in the world, so if we are not a great spectacle worth watching then by your reasoning everything below is not worth watching either.... your view are clouded my friend.

Did i just put down 8th.... sorry Jags, make that 6th... 6th!! we must be so rubbish eh?

there is nothing wrong with reform in priniple nothing stands stilll in life.if you belong to an organization and things are not working it is right to seek change through dialogue negotiation and compromise not belligerence or threats. where does this imperative to break away come from why the urgency ?if not sour grapes at the failed bid why does england lack confidence in its ability to persuade from within.
who will join in this breakaway adventure? is there a coinidence of interests?
do you break away from the EU,UN etc everytime you lose out.

those who join any breakaway group will do so if it is in their interest. right now germany,france have done and are doing quite well out of FIFA and won't quit. i doubt that sotland will either

even if you are number i would and most neutrals would pay to see the likes of spain brazil argentina and holland

on the other hand italy while technially very good and one of the best teams in the world like england are BORING sorry just like the old chelsea arsenal chestnut

PS i never said england are not a good team they from a results perspetive which is the most important if you are a supporter if you are neutral paying for entertainment i can think of other ways to spend money

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