Another reason to dissolve CONCACAF?:

ZURICH (AP) — Caribbean soccer leaders were given 48 hours by FIFA to explain their part in a Trinidad meeting where Mohamed bin Hammam allegedly offered them bribes or face life bans from the sport.

Caribbean Football Union members have been asked for their “truthful and complete” versions of events, FIFA said Tuesday. Soccer’s scandal-hit governing body sent letters Monday setting a Wednesday deadline to provide explanations and confessions.

“Any person who has relevant information but does not come forward during this 48-hour period will be subject to the full range of sanctions,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA’s ethics committee banned Qatar’s bin Hammam for life on Saturday after ruling he offered $40,000 cash bribes to Caribbean officials to back his later-abandoned presidential bid to unseat Sepp Blatter.

In its letter to all 25 CFU members, FIFA asked “the associations, their presidents and any of their members … (for) knowledge of anything that transpired” in Trinidad at a May 10-11 conference, which bin Hammam acknowledges he paid for.

“Following this 48-hour period, the ethics committee will be asked to open the necessary
ethics proceedings,” FIFA said. “Truthful and complete reporting will be considered in
mitigation by the ethics committee when deciding on potential sanctions.”

At least nine Caribbean countries have cooperated with FIFA’s investigation into the bribery claims, and a tenth — Cuba — was not present in Trinidad.

Of the 15 remaining CFU members, 12 wrote testimony denying the allegations and supporting bin Hammam and Caribbean soccer powerbroker Jack Warner when they first appeared before FIFA’s ethics panel in May.

Those supporters were targeted in recent weeks by FIFA investigators, led by former FBI
director Louis Freeh, but some did not cooperate or did not accept invitations to be quizzed in Miami and the Bahamas last month.

The sanctions threatened by FIFA could potentially remove the Caribbean’s most experienced soccer leaders.

Most are longtime allies of Warner, who avoided the ethics panel’s scrutiny by resigning from all soccer positions last month, including his 28-year seat on FIFA’s executive committee, and his presidencies of the CONCACAF regional confederation and the CFU.

FIFA said Warner maintained a “presumption of innocence” as he returned to his job as a government minister in Trinidad and Tobago.

Bin Hammam denies wrongdoing and has pledged to appeal his lifetime ban.

Two CFU staffers, Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, got one-year bans from FIFA on Saturday for their part distributing the cash payments.

Whistleblowers told FIFA the money was handed over in four piles of $100 bills stuffed into a brown envelope.

The whistleblower and the beneficiary: FIFA Executive Committe member Chuck Blazer, left, and newly-relected FIFA president Joseph Blatter in Zurich today where Blatter was elected to a final term as president of the world governing body of soccer (AP Photo).

Last man standing:

ZURICH (AP) — Sepp Blatter was re-elected FIFA president on Wednesday after a major bribery scandal left him as the only candidate to deal with a sport reeling from a wave of corruption allegations.

Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of soccer’s governing body in a vote at FIFA’s congress. He received 186 votes out of 203 ballots.

After a tense week of drama and controversy surrounding his unchallenged candidacy, Blatter was beaming as he came into the congress hall to a standing ovation and warm applause after the result was announced.

“Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!” said an ebullient Blatter, using the Spanish term for “Let’s go!”

He immediately took steps toward major reform by winning the assembly’s backing for his
proposal to have future World Cup hosts selected in a vote of all 208 federations instead of the 24-man executive committee. The congress also endorsed his plans to revamp the ethics committee and bring in more transparency.

Blatter said he also planned to appoint a woman to the executive committee.

FIFA will meet again later this year to formally adopt the measures.

“We will put FIFA’s ship back on the right course in clear transparent waters,” he said in
French. “We will need some time. We cannot do it from one day to the next. It’s a new
challenge for me and I accept it.”

The election went ahead after England’s call for a postponement of Blatter’s unopposed
“coronation” amid the ethics crisis was overwhelmingly rejected by the delegates. England’s FA chairman David Bernstein left before the vote.

Hours earlier, Blatter promised fundamental reform to tackle the scandals and vowed to let the 208 national federations choose the host of future World Cups instead of the 24-man executive committee.

The re-election completed a frantic week for Blatter, who strained under the weight of
accusations targeting the top echelons of FIFA and himself as guardian of the game and the World Cup.

“We have been hit and I personally have been slapped,” Blatter said. “I don’t want that ever again.”

The impending election of an incumbent as the only candidate had dealt a serious blow to FIFA’s democratic credentials over the past week.

Blatter’s sole challenger, Qatari executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam, withdrew from the race last weekend and was suspended pending a full probe into allegations of bribing Caribbean voters during the campaign. FIFA vice president Jack Warner of Trinidad was also suspended for involvement in the alleged payoffs.

Despite the bribery scandal that saw the heads of the Asian and CONCACAF confederations suspended, the overwhelming backing was a ringing endorsement for Blatter.

“I am happy we are able to bring this solidarity, this unity in FIFA,” Blatter said.

Bernstein had called for a postponement of the election for several months to allow for the scandals to be cleared up, saying that “a coronation without an opponent provides a flawed mandate.”

However, 172 of the 208 delegations rejected England’s call, clearing the way for the election to proceed.

Blatter said the worst scandal in the body’s history could be solved within FIFA itself and
with him in charge.

“The FIFA ship is in troubled waters but this ship must be brought back on the right track,” Blatter said in an opening address. “I am the captain of the ship.”

“It is therefore my duty and responsibility to see to it that we get back on track.”

To make sure his legacy would not be seen as one of a leader who let the rot of corruption take over the world’s premier game, Blatter promised to improve decision-making and openness in FIFA.

“Reforms will be made and not just touchups but radical decisions,” Blatter said in his speech to the 208 delegations.

He insisted that reform should come from within the FIFA family, snubbing calls for
independent, outside oversight that many critics had insisted on and he himself had
promised.

IOC President Jacques Rogge told Blatter on the eve of the election that only drastic measures to improve democracy and transparency had saved the Olympic movement when it faced a similar corruption scandal in the run-up to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games.

“We have made mistakes, but we will draw our conclusions,” Blatter said.

Allegations of corruption in World Cup bidding have also roiled FIFA in recent weeks. On Monday, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was forced to acknowledge he had written in an email that Qatar “bought” the 2022 World Cup. He said he was only referring to Qatar’s formidable financial clout, and that he never accused the Gulf country of buying votes.

On Wednesday, German federation President Theo Zwanziger said Qatar’s victory in December’s vote should be reviewed in light of “speculations and corruption allegations.” Qatar has denied any wrongdoing.

In a major policy shift, Blatter said he would work to make sure that the awarding of future
World Cup hosts would be decided in a vote of all federations instead of the two dozen
executive committee members, several of whom have been involved in bribery scandals.

Just ahead of the election, FIFA’s financial officers highlighted the enormous importance of the sport’s showcase tournament. FIFA made a $631 million profit in the four years leading up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, registering $202 million of that in last year alone.

The four-year financial cycle showed income of $4.19 billion from broadcast and commercial deals, with 87 percent tied directly to the World Cup.

So far, Blatter’s dogged determination to bring the World Cup to Africa with the successful staging of South Africa 2010 stands out as his legacy. In his last four years, his ability to reform the governance of the sport could mean as much for his place his history.

A fourth term will give Blatter a total of 17 years at the head of FIFA. Add the 24 years of
his predecessor Joao Havelange, and the sport will have been in the hands of just two men over the past four decades.

AP Sports Writers Rob Harris and Graham Dunbar in Zurich and Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt contributed to this report.

Soccer scoundrels? Mohamed bin Hammam, right, of Qatar, chief of the Asian Football Confederation, is accompanied by FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF official Jack Warner, of Trinidad & Tobago, during a meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago earlier this year. The pair have been summoned to FIFA headquarters Sunday to discuss possible wrongdoing (AP Photo).

Now major FIFA sponsor adidas is rightly voicing concern about the accusations of bribery, “public humiliation” and who knows what else that’s being tossed around.

How can these guys run the world’s biggest sporting event?

Read more about the deepening FIFA morass here in this AP story by sports writer Graham Dunbar:

ZURICH (AP) — In a FIFA presidential election blighted by a bribery scandal, Mohamed bin Hammam hugged Sepp Blatter on Thursday, then attacked his campaign.

Their contest for soccer’s top job turned increasingly hostile the day after bin Hammam was accused by the governing body of bribing voters in the Caribbean.

The Qatari challenger flew to Zurich for a FIFA finance meeting and faced the opponent he suspects plotted to wreck his chances in Wednesday’s vote of 208 soccer nations. Their warm embrace, witnessed by a select few of FIFA’s inner circle, disguised deeper passions.

Hours later, bin Hammam issued a statement urging the same FIFA ethics committee that is investigating him to also examine Blatter for breaching its behavior code.

Blatter, meanwhile, talked up his opponent’s “public humiliation” in his regular campaign
column for a soccer website. He denied conspiring to remove his former ally from the
ballot.

The dysfunctional spectacle finally prompted disapproval from a major sponsor that helps
bankroll FIFA’s billion-dollar annual income. The sporting goods firm Adidas, a top-tier
backer since the 1970s, lamented the “negative tenor” of FIFA’s debate.

Soccer’s increasingly discredited ruling body already has eight of its 24-man executive
committee under investigation. Blatter would be the ninth if, as bin Hammam requests, he is brought before an ethics hearing in Zurich on Sunday.

Bin Hammam has been summoned along with his fellow confederation boss Jack Warner, a FIFA vice president, for allegedly offering bribes to 25 Caribbean soccer leaders on a May 10-11 campaign trip to Warner’s native Trinidad.

While rejecting the bribery allegations, bin Hammam said FIFA’s evidence showed Blatter broke its ethical code by not reporting an apparent corruption attempt.

“The accusations also contain statements according to which Mr. Blatter, the incumbent FIFA president, was informed of, but did not oppose, payments allegedly made to members of the Caribbean Football Union,” bin Hammam said in a statement.
Bin Hammam insisted the scandal is a “plan to damage” him and, like Warner, has questioned the timing.

Blatter wrote that he was “shocked” by the corruption claims against bin Hammam that shed a “very bad light on FIFA yet again.”

“It gives me no pleasure to see him suffer public disgrace before an investigation would even have started,” Blatter said in a column for Inside World Football. “To now assume that … this entire matter was somehow masterminded by me is ludicrous and completely
reprehensible.”

The ethics panel can, in effect, hand Blatter victory by suspending bin Hammam from all soccer duty. The panel could rule there was wrongdoing or it could provisionally bar bin Hammam if it requests more time to study evidence compiled by a federal prosecutor from Chicago who works for Warner’s regional soccer body of CONCACAF, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Blatter expressed admiration for American official Chuck Blazer’s “civic courage” in raising the alarm. Blazer joined the FIFA ruling panel alongside bin Hammam 15 years ago and had been Warner’s closest regional ally for even longer.

The FIFA civil strife extended to CONCACAF’s home city of New York. Manhattan lawyer Burton Haimes stepped aside from the FIFA ethics panel, citing a conflict of interest from his long-standing relationships with Blazer and Warner. Ethics chairman Claudio Sulser recused himself Wednesday because he shares Swiss nationality with Blatter.

The former international player passed sentences last November on FIFA executive
members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii. They drew three- and one-year bans respectively after an investigation into World Cup vote-selling. Sunday’s hearing will be chaired by Sulser’s deputy, Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb.

Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975 and has been president for 13 years, acknowledges that FIFA helped create this stormy climate.

The 75-year-old Swiss pledged to “open the doors, reinforce dialogue, improve our corporate governance and handle our public affairs with the kind of priority it deserves” if he gets a fourth and final four-year term.

Adidas, which is in talks to extend its backing beyond the 2014 World Cup, appears to expect nothing less. It described FIFA’s issues as “neither good for the sport of football nor for FIFA as an institution and its partners.”

The always reform-minded Sepp Blatter (AP Photo).

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Guess ole’ Sepp has been paying attention to the turmoil in the Middle East. Still, he wants to appoint a watchdog committee? Isn’t that the foxes guarding the proverbial henhouse:

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — FIFA President Sepp Blatter promises wide-ranging reforms if re-elected, including the way World Cup hosts are chosen.

Blatter told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine he also will set up a watchdog committee to supervise how FIFA works and “restore the credibility” of soccer’s governing body.

The 75-year-old Swiss is seeking a fourth term of office on June 1. His lone opponent is Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam.

Blatter said the selection process for World Cup sites should be similar to that of the
International Olympic Committee for Olympic venues.

FIFA was criticized for the way its last two World Cup hosts were picked — Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). Both decisions came at the same time, with two executive committee members barred from voting by FIFA’s ethics panel because of corruption allegations. Four other senior officials were also suspended from duty.

“It’s a project I’ve had at the back of my mind,” Blatter told the paper. “I would like to
(follow) the example of the IOC, to prevent what happened.”

Blatter wants the executive committee to review 10 or 12 bids, narrow the field to the best candidates and let FIFA’s congress choose the winner.

The full congress includes 208 FIFA members — each representing a national association — who would all have one vote. Until now, World Cup hosts have been chosen by the 24-member executive committee.

Blatter said he wanted to introduce a body designed to help bolster FIFA’s standing. He said he already knew whom he wanted to lead the body.

“I can’t tell you the name yet. He will choose the other members,” Blatter said. “They should be familiar with football but their priority will be to restore credibility.”

The members would not come from within soccer, he added.

Looking toward the election, Blatter said he questions the motives of his opponent.

“I don’t know why Bin Hammam became so aggressive suddenly. He repeatedly told the executive he would not run against me and now he is doing it,” Blatter said. “I imagine that I have about the half votes from Asia and Africa and surely a majority in the rest of the world.”

Blatter said he was also willing to publish the salaries of FIFA officials, “if the congress
so decides.”

“Compared with international companies listed on the stock exchange, we are school kids as far as salaries are concerned,” he said.

The interview is set for publication Saturday. The newspaper published excerpts online
Friday.

The first batch of U.S. Census data for California was released Tuesday and whether you’re a soccer marketing executive trying to sell more tickets, a club official seeking more quality players – or simply want to see the sport grow – the state’s burgeoning Latino population bodes well for the future of the sport.

Some highlights:

*From 2000 to 2010, the number of Latinos grew by 28 percent to 14 million in the nation’s most populous state, reaching near parity with non-Hispanic whites.

*More than half of California’s children are now of Hispanic origin; the state’s Hispanic population under 18 years of age increased 17%, while the number of non-Hispanic white children fell 21% over the past decade.

“Hispanics are the future of California,” demographer William Frey from the Brookings Institution told the Washington Post.

Now, I’m making some assumptions here, including that young Latinos will continue their parents’ interest in watching and playing soccer rather than many becoming Steelers fans.

Still, if history is any guide the numbers suggest soccer will be the beneficiary of this demographic trend reshaping the state and nation.

For more details, read more here, here and here.

Via Groupon, the limited time deal is here.

Gotta love the breathless (and inaccurate) sales pitch:

Witness the U.S. World Cup team banana kick and back tackle their way through an exciting new season as they face off against teams including the New England Revolution (March 20), Seattle Sounders (July 4), and their archrivals Chivas USA (October 16). Depending on the Galaxy’s ability to take names and kick grass this year, fans might see the team’s “big three,” comprised of the blazing Landon Donovan, superstar David Beckham, and score-savvy Juan Pablo Angel, executing a human pyramid in perfect unison. With the first option, soccer zealots can check out any one of the 17 home games of the season, and those choosing the second option can cheer, clap, and streak across the stands wearing sequined shin guards in a show of support for six separate matches.

Sequined shin guards? The Galaxy played at the World Cup? Who knew?

Still, at 43 percent off, it’s a good deal on either single tickets, a six-game pack or season tickets with the season opener just a week away.

His prayers are answered: Beckham is still the world’s top earning soccer player (AP Photo)

I’m guessing, given David Beckham’s injuries and lack of playing time in MLS, that $250 million in potential earnings mentioned when he signed for the Galaxy over the life of his five-year contract is no longer a valid estimate (if it ever was), although what’s $10 million or so off when you’re talking money like this. Nevertheless, his bank account is doing quite well, thank you:

LONDON (AP) — Forbes magazine says David Beckham still reigns supreme as soccer’s top-earning player.

The 35-year-old midfielder earns $40 million annually, with much of that coming from sponsors such as Adidas, Giorgio Armani and Motorola. But Beckham is expected to lose major sponsorship money this year because he will miss the World Cup in South Africa after tearing his Achilles’ tendon in March while on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy to AC Milan.

Portuguese midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the Forbes list, earning $30 million a year. Ronaldo’s major sponsors include Nike, Coca-Cola and, like Beckham, Giorgio Armani.

Ronaldo, the 2008 FIFA Player of the Year, became the highest paid soccer player in the world in June when Real Madrid bought the 25-year-old winger from Manchester United for $130 million. He signed a six-year contract that pays an estimated $15.5 million in the first year, then increases 25 percent each season.

Brazilian playmaker Kaka, Ronaldo’s teammate at Madrid, is third on the list, earning $25 million annually.

The 28-year-old, who won the 2007 FIFA Player of the Year, was bought from AC Milan for $91 million — the second-highest known transfer fee. Kaka’s sponsors include Adidas and Giorgio Armani.

Ronaldinho is fourth on Forbes’ list, also earning $25 million a year. The 30-year-old
Brazilian forward, who plays for AC Milan, was FIFA Player of the Year in 2004 and ’05.

Rounding out the top five is French forward Thierry Henry, who makes $24 million a year. The 32-year-old plays for Barcelona and has sponsorships with Reebok, Gillette and Pepsi. There has been talk he could transfer this summer to Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls.

Lionel Messi, the reigning FIFA Player of the Year, is sixth on the list with earnings of $20 million annually. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is seventh, earning $17 million, with teammate John Terry in eighth at $16 million.

Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ninth, also at $16 million, followed by Liverpool
midfielder Steven Gerrard at $15 million.

On Wednesday, Forbes ranked Manchester United as soccer’s most valuable team. Real Madrid was second and Arsenal was third — the same top three as last year.

But I guess that’s better than the 5 percent figure that was going to be on the March ballot.

Details here.

A 10 percent ticket tax proposal didn’t find enough support on the City Council a couple of weeks ago, but now a 2 percent tax is under consideration tonight.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USA

Plenty of media attention for Juan Pablo Angel and the New York Red Bulls Friday, but is the general public noticing?

I pitched my editor (the news, not sports editor) a front page Robbie Rogers profile on Sunday to coincide with MLS Cup in Carson.

I figured it was a safe bet: a South Bay native, one of the best players on the best team in the league, an Olympian, MLS Goal of the Year finalist, a 21-year-old having a breakout season who was named to the national team for the first time.

Who’s going to turn down that story?

He did.

Obscure athlete playing for an obscure team in an obscure league for an obscure championship, he said.

Instead, he said, why don’t you write a story about how many people locally know whether a national championship of a supposedly major league is being played here?

So I did, figuring if that sort of story was going to get written (yet again) at least it will be by someone (who thinks) he knows something about the game and not some ignorant soccer bashing reporter.

I’m of the P.T. Barnum mindset when it comes to soccer: there is no such thing as bad publicity.

And the story duly landed on the front page, at least publicizing the game (and this blog).

There was no other mention of the game in the entire newspaper this morning. Soccer still has a way to go whether fans like it or not.

I usually don’t print e-mails sent to me privately, but I thought I’d share the following one below that appeared in my inbox before I’d even staggered out of bed this morning:

Just read your article on MLS Cup.

Here’s my take on the event.

First off, it’s time to get rid of the myth that Americans love to play not watch soccer.

Ratings for major Soccer events (World Cup, Euro Cup, English Premier League) have been increasing at a rapid upward pace for a number of years.

As far as MLS. The relevant metric for a 12-year old-league, which unlike other American leagues exists in a worldwide environment, is hard core fans put into the seats on a weekly basis.

By that standard MLS is doing quite well, averaging more that 16,000 fans per game, in a terrible economic climate especially for families (i.e. the non-corporate crowd) who make up the core of the MLS’ fan base.

I wonder where the NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. were in their 13th year?

Are fans into the MLS Cup in New York? Not really the right question. Hard core fans of the Red Bulls like me will and given time the “gospel” will spread to the masses, just as it happened in football, baseball etc.

Perry
Flushing, New York.

Amen, Perry.

Thanks for writing.

Of course, even the soccer-hating guy mentioned in the article watches World Cup soccer so there’s a tremendous difference between MLS viewership and how many people watch the World Cup.

And as the Commish pointed out Thursday in his speech at USC, ratings for the Galaxy are higher than for the Kings, but ratings are higher nationally for the NHL than for MLS.

Fans going to the game tomorrow should be aware that:
*The Red Cross will collect donations for victims of the recent wildfires outside the entrances to the stadium.

*The Los Angeles Sol, the new Women’s Professional Soccer franchise, kicks off a toy drive Sunday with defender Kendall Fletcher signing autographs for all donors who drop off a toy at the Sol booth before the game. In addition, any fan donating an unwrapped toy worth $3 or more will receive a voucher for one free ticket with the purchase of a full-price ticket to any Sol home game in 2009. The Team LA store at Home Depot Center also has a collection box.

Also, earlier this week I blogged here about some of my favorite South Bay bars, eateries, etc., for those of you visiting the area from out of town (or locals who live under a rock).

MLS Cup is not the only soccer game at the HDC this weekend, BTW.

At 7 tonight Cal State Dominnguez Hills plays hosts Midwestern State at the Track & Field Stadium with a place at the Division II NCAA final four at stake Dec. 4 in Tampa, Fla.