[Archived] Corruption in the domestic game

[joey_big_nose]

I am backing Glen 100% in what he is writing.

There are reasons for reasons why the transparency is so difficult to achieve.

This is no ego or power trip.

Frankly, people have been extremely brave as well as generous with their time and money. "I am glad that at no point I did not know anything which perhaps 20 other people besides me didn't also know."

Hi Philipl. I've been puzzling over the bit I've put in quotation marks (bold not working on my phone) and for the life of me have no idea what you mean?

Very cryptic.

[philipl]

What is happening in FIFA is of global geo-political consequence as the speed of Putin linking Blatter to American extraterritoriality showed. Qatar is pivotal to what is happening in the Middle East conflagration and they were more than bit players in what did or did not happen at Ewood. Incidentally Blatter has played the oldest trick in the game- he resigned but remains 100% in charge for several months at least unless the 17 arrested or on Interpol's red list squeal the way Warner says (emphasis on says) he will...

Chuck Blazer became the Fed's man in 2012. That was at the time the Rovers scandal was at its peak and interestingly made it to the front page of the New York Times.

The unsealed evidence today talks of TV deals for FIFA. Which company did the majority of FIFA's TV deals for them?

Rovers also had a failed Australian bid in strange circumstances.

Rovers' then new auditors have other football accounts. I guess the words Andersen and Enron might be whispered in KPMG offices all round the world today.

Anyway, I have better things to do with my life than get involved with all this again- I have forgotten most of it. I sincerely wish all of you well and desperately hope for a miracle but I deeply suspect there are other reasons for Rovers' transfer ban than some absurd notion of FFP. I will be enormously relieved if we don't get relegated next season. Bye.

[chimbondapie]

I don't know if the dossier that apparently exists holds the answers nor if what took place was criminal but from the involvement of he who can't be named and his managent henchman ( and subsequently what was told to the owners on how things will be run ) to the big contacts handed out to Portuguese ball boys.( Portugal ? What a coincidence) and all the events and absurdities in-between surely now we are all in agreement that brfc was run in a corrupt fashion? .... Just an opinion, I may well be very wrong.

[K-Hod]

What is happening in FIFA is of global geo-political consequence as the speed of Putin linking Blatter to American extraterritoriality showed. Qatar is pivotal to what is happening in the Middle East conflagration and they were more than bit players in what did or did not happen at Ewood. Incidentally Blatter has played the oldest trick in the game- he resigned but remains 100% in charge for several months at least unless the 17 arrested or on Interpol's red list squeal the way Warner says (emphasis on says) he will...

Chuck Blazer became the Fed's man in 2012. That was at the time the Rovers scandal was at its peak and interestingly made it to the front page of the New York Times.

The unsealed evidence today talks of TV deals for FIFA. Which company did the majority of FIFA's TV deals for them?

Rovers also had a failed Australian bid in strange circumstances.

Rovers' then new auditors have other football accounts. I guess the words Andersen and Enron might be whispered in KPMG offices all round the world today.

Anyway, I have better things to do with my life than get involved with all this again- I have forgotten most of it. I sincerely wish all of you well and desperately hope for a miracle but I deeply suspect there are other reasons for Rovers' transfer ban than some absurd notion of FPP. I will be enormously relieved if we don't get relegated next season. Bye.

K then...

[glen9mullan]

Given the passage of time, one can only assume that the "dossier" never had anything of substance in it. We hear a lot of rhetoric about the risk, effort and expense to gather this information, but 3 years later it was unnecessary risk, wasted effort and wasted money, because absolutely nothing has come from it all. The individual requests above to be allowed into the walk-in centre to consider the evidence in confidence seem entirely reasonable to me, and I hope they are granted. Perhaps extra eyes and brains might help to find a way forward with it.

However I fear that BRAG themselves may have gathered some dirty linen along the way. Getting so close to Shebby Singh was an error, and still peddling the myth that he wasn't to blame for the ridiculous contracts handed out during his spell at Ewood is another error.

Let's face facts - when SS turned up he was a nobody from nowhere, and was desperate to boost his credibility as soon as possible. With the fans, he did that by offering an olive branch to the most vocal of the protesting fans, who took it fruit, leaves and all. That led to the cringeworthy Q&A in KGH. With the national media, he called 6-0-6, and that infamous interview was even more cringeworthy.

I wonder what the players thought when he rocked up at Brockhall with his "SS" branded training gear? It seems remarkable that at exactly the same time Shebby was turning up for training in his Rovers tracksuit, almost every senior player got an improved, extended contract - which in some cases we are still paying for.

Shortly afterwards in December 2012, BRAG unveiled the above-mentioned walk-in centre in the Blackburn Rovers Enterprise Centre, with a lovely quote from Shebby Singh :

The cheapest suites in the BREC are advertised at #257.77+VAT, so for an organization that doesn't charge members any fee or subscription, BRAG have done really well to keep it running for 2 1/2 years - that's nearly 10 grand in rent!!

Perhaps when people go in to read the dossier, they can also look over the invoices which show that BRAG pay the going rate in the Darwen End just like all the other tenants, and that nobody did them a favour when Shebby was throwing cash around like confetti.

Firstly BRFCAG rent their office off the enterprise centre ,

They pay the going rate and have never at any stage had any reduced rates .

Blackburn Rovers and Shebby Singh as you care to mention him , did not know about the walk in centre until the office was already signed up for and was due to open .

The BRFCAG accounts are open and transparent and readily available to its members , which show quite clearly that the office is paid for and always has been by BRFCAG , it's run by volunteers I may add.

Perhaps Tris , you are believing too much of the bullshit peddled at the fans forum meetings by Shaw Et al, for the remainder of your post .

Those contracts were given out 100% by Derek Shaw , Paul Agnew and Ian Sylvestor. They were negotiated by them and also have their signatures on them . To say anything to the contrary or to believe anything to the contrary is laughable . Of course Shaw is going to say over a coffee "it wasn't me , honest " thankfully when others sit with him , he don't get the luxary of sitting like a Cheshire Cat , but gets fully called out

I think the court transcript over the Henning Berg case , pretty much open and shuts this case , that it was indeed the MD giving contracts out like confetti and acting without authorisation of the owners . It's there in black and white and has been discussed in the UK courts under oath .

[Kamy100]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

[1arC]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

Amazing stuff that Kamy. Formica deal stunk of third party ownership and it is probably a good job it was nipped in the bud. I have a feeling that could have been the start of something bigger had it not been. Funny how the FA stopped the deal twice, but eventually agreed it. I guess money has a habit of solving little problems like that!

[OJRovers]

I think the court transcript over the Henning Berg case , pretty much open and shuts this case , that it was indeed the MD giving contracts out like confetti and acting without authorisation of the owners . It's there in black and white and has been discussed in the UK courts under oath .

If Shaw was acting against the wishes of the owners, why is he still employed? You'd get a long line of candidates to take over that cosy gig on his money.

I usually agree with you on most things, but I think on the court case, Shaw took the fall in a laughable attempt by the owners to get out of paying the cost.

[yoda]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

I have a feeling that the upcoming FIFA youth tournament in India (FIFA's 1st ever tournament in India) will be a ball breaker.

[joey_big_nose]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

Thanks Kamy. Interesting and crystal clear as always.

[RevidgeBlue]

If Shaw was acting against the wishes of the owners, why is he still employed? You'd get a long line of candidates to take over that cosy gig on his money.

I usually agree with you on most things, but I think on the court case, Shaw took the fall in a laughable attempt by the owners to get out of paying the cost.

That's my take on it also. It's the only possible explanation.

[Athlete]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

Everything a legal minefield.. As soon as the big money came into football the game changed from sport to big business attracting all kinds of folk including criminals who unfortunately weren't in it for the love of the game

[RevidgeBlue]

Amazing stuff that Kamy. Formica deal stunk of third party ownership and it is probably a good job it was nipped in the bud. I have a feeling that could have been the start of something bigger had it not been. Funny how the FA stopped the deal twice, but eventually agreed it. I guess money has a habit of solving little problems like that!

Everyone likes to get excited about the Formic deal but of course 3rd party ownership of players is not prohibited and is in fact commonplace overseas. So if he was initially the subject of 3rd party ownership the deal would be problematic, but if the 3rd parties then relinquished their ownership the move would be permissible.

Was the move permitted within the rules? Possibly. Was it a good signing? Probably not as not a bad player but we massively overpaid for him at 3m imo.

[Stuart]

Just finished reading the Chuck Blazer testimony, he confirms that some of the TV deals that were agreed by FIFA were because backhanders were paid to Ex Co member, SEM/Kentaro have been the FIFA's go to company for negotiating media deals for a number years, all of their media events are organised by SEM.

Furthermore the Brazilian FIFA ex co members who the FBI want to question Jose Margulies and Jose Maria Marin, and former Brazilian FA head Ricardo Teixeria are the guys who signed over the exclusive rights to SEM/Kentaro for the broadcast of Brazilian national team games and the organisation of any friendlies (hence you have seen them play matches all over the world rather than in Brazil).

With the Feds looking into the above people they are bound to look into the companies that are associated with these people to see if they had any involvement in all of this, so when they look into Kentaro/SEM they will do so in an extremely forensic manner if there has been any wrong doing in relation to Rovers that will also come out as part of the process, the Formica transfer for instance raises huge questions in my mind.

Who would have thought that an investigation into FIFA could lead to us finally finding out if there was any wrong doing in relation to what happened at Rovers. I will back Glen up here, I have talked to Nick Harris on a number of occasion and seen some of the stuff he has and it certainly is damning, none of it can be published due to legal injunctions banning it's publication at present, it seems that these injunctions were granted because the lawyers were able to prove that the evidence was gained by illegal mean (ie the person who handed over the material stole it).

I would love to think that the downfall of FIFA would be the catalyst for some punishments being meted out to those who destroyed the club I love but something nagging at me thinks that it would somehow be Rovers and the fans that ended up worse off again.

From midtable PL to relegation, to the sale of all of our players over a few short years, to humiliation, to on-fighting, to parachute payments running out, to being under a transfer embargo, to remaining under embargo, to watching as our mediocre players start to get sold off leaving only the poor ones. A downhill slide that hasn't yet stopped.

And people have the temerity to say that we are stable or even that things are looking up!

[glen9mullan]

I would love to think that the downfall of FIFA would be the catalyst for some punishments being meted out to those who destroyed the club I love but something nagging at me thinks that it would somehow be Rovers and the fans that ended up worse off again.

From midtable PL to relegation, to the sale of all of our players over a few short years, to humiliation, to on-fighting, to parachute payments running out, to being under a transfer embargo, to remaining under embargo, to watching as our mediocre players start to get sold off leaving only the poor ones. A downhill slide that hasn't yet stopped.

And people have the temerity to say that we are stable or even that things are looking up!

One of the best paragraphs I've read on here for a long time , yet others still think everything is ok and we are heading in the right direction under this ownership , this board , this manager and this squad

[LDRover]

I would love to think that the downfall of FIFA would be the catalyst for some punishments being meted out to those who destroyed the club I love but something nagging at me thinks that it would somehow be Rovers and the fans that ended up worse off again.

From midtable PL to relegation, to the sale of all of our players over a few short years, to humiliation, to on-fighting, to parachute payments running out, to being under a transfer embargo, to remaining under embargo, to watching as our mediocre players start to get sold off leaving only the poor ones. A downhill slide that hasn't yet stopped.

And people have the temerity to say that we are stable or even that things are looking up!

Yep. From the 'we are where we are' brigade to the eternal optimists there can be no doubting the validity of that 2nd paragraph.

[chimbondapie]

I would love to think that the downfall of FIFA would be the catalyst for some punishments being meted out to those who destroyed the club I love but something nagging at me thinks that it would somehow be Rovers and the fans that ended up worse off again.

From midtable PL to relegation, to the sale of all of our players over a few short years, to humiliation, to on-fighting, to parachute payments running out, to being under a transfer embargo, to remaining under embargo, to watching as our mediocre players start to get sold off leaving only the poor ones. A downhill slide that hasn't yet stopped.

And people have the temerity to say that we are stable or even that things are looking up!

super fans of ours are not so hard on our manager, it's looking up, don't be too harsh on mediocrity , he is doing his best. I wish I could have shown them the future when I was 11 years old (1992)

[Stuart]

super fans of ours are not so hard on our manager, it's looking up, don't be too harsh on mediocrity , he is doing his best. I wish I could have shown them the future when I was 11 years old (1992)

I worry that my 11 year old won't have a future [football team].

[Pedro]

Unfortunately, in my opinion our media and goverment will simply cover-up the major stuff up and throw a couple of victims onto the fire to appease the baying crowd. That's all they've done of late, regardless of stacks of testimony and evidence...that often seems to get lost or destroyed.

[BlueMonday]

Little ol' Blackburn Rovers aren't going to figure in any far reaching FIFA investigation. The FBI will chase the money and clear out FIFA, but there'll be no justice for Rovers. The Americans are looking to extend their influence into world 'soccer' the way they did the Olympics.

Rovers are just fish food.

[Audax]

Azuri, I don't know about that, US might have done this at the behest of England, like things have happened, backroom deals. Why soil England's stellar, yes (no jokes), international reputation in football? At the least, I think something happened behind the scenes.

Maybe somehow they just caught wind of this and some in the Western Hemisphere have gotten busted too.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/fifa-investigation-us-investigating-soccers-world-governing-body/story?id=31332293

All that said, it is puzzling why the US is going after FIFA but I do get the "enough is enough" part.

[Steve Moss]

I have no special knowledge, but for anyone who reads the papers there are two obvious reasons the USA might have taken notice.

1. Garcia was hired to investigate FIFA. FIFA then swept his report under the rug, and seriously @#/? off Garcia in the process. Garcia is connected to Lynch (US AG) and Comey (FBI Director).

2. Spain and Portugal allegedly accused the USA and the UK of cooperating on the World Cup bids. The USA initially intended to submit a 2018 and 2022 bid, but instead submitted for 2022 while UK submitted for 2018. They and others instead supported Russia and Qatar. I don't think the USA/UK took it well.

And then evidence materializes that the process wasn't fair and laws may have been broken. I don't think they took it well.

[joey_big_nose]

I have no special knowledge, but for anyone who reads the papers there are two obvious reasons the USA might have taken notice.

1. Garcia was hired to investigate FIFA. FIFA then swept his report under the rug, and seriously @#/? off Garcia in the process. Garcia is connected to Lynch (US AG) and Comey (FBI Director).

2. Spain and Portugal allegedly accused the USA and the UK of cooperating on the World Cup bids. The USA initially intended to submit a 2018 and 2022 bid, but instead submitted for 2022 while UK submitted for 2018. They and others instead supported Russia and Qatar. I don't think the USA/UK took it well.

And then evidence materializes that the process wasn't fair and laws may have been broken. I don't think they took it well.

Totally agree with this. Also

3. US is currently engaged in a sanction war with Russia. That this really hurts Putin in a way travel bans etc don't is very attractive.

4. Its a massive PR boon for the US. Part of US international strategy is to portray itself and the world power system built around it, as more legitimate and less corrupt than Russia, Al Quieda, the middle east, Syria, China etc (I'd agree with that by the way). This investigation supports that narrative at a time when America has made headlines for the wrong reasons - collapses in Afganistan and Iraq, police voilence, civilian deaths from air strikes.

Its been a real coup for the FBI and Obama (even though Obama has nothing to do with it. Reflected glory and all that.)

[47er]

Everyone likes to get excited about the Formic deal but of course 3rd party ownership of players is not prohibited and is in fact commonplace overseas. So if he was initially the subject of 3rd party ownership the deal would be problematic, but if the 3rd parties then relinquished their ownership the move would be permissible.

Was the move permitted within the rules? Possibly. Was it a good signing? Probably not as not a bad player but we massively overpaid for him at 3m imo.

Didn't it go deeper than 3rd party ownership? Which, in any case, is illegal under FA rules-----isn't it? Did I read something about a passport problem somewhere?

Was it a good signing?------no it wasn't because he wasn't up to it. Just one of a number of players foisted on us when the place was "buzzing". Where are they now?

[tomphil]

Formica was a real dodgy signing with allsorts going on in the background and let's not forget that he was valued at 3 mill but a whopping 1.5 mill of it was the 'agents' fee. It stunk to high heaven and if they'd have got away with it loads more similar would have followed. It was the set up they had ready to really fleece Rovers and likely most players in and out would have gone via that 'system'.