homegame

Lafayette, Where's Mine?

Former international soccer official Chuck Blazer is the stool pigeon-in-chief of the highly entertaining, sorry, I meant disgraceful, FIFA scandal. Among Blazer's confessions is that he (and presumably other FIFA bigwigs, accepted bribes in connection with the selection of host countries for the 2010 and 1998 World Cup tournaments.

The 2010 Cup was held in South Africa, the first one ever held in Africa, so the bribes make some sense. But 1998? The host country that year was France.

FIFA's top brass attend the World Cup, any Cup, en masse, staying in five-star hotels, eating in the finest restaurants, and never using their wallets. They are comped for every luxury their minds can imagine, and when it comes to grift, they're an imaginative bunch.

So these guys had to be bribed to spend a month on the arm in France, a country which has catered to the champagne wishes and caviar dreams of the international wealthy since the Renaissance. That's corruption on the grand scale. That's a reminder to us all. Never steal small.

posted by Michael Gee @ 8:05 AM