Comment by isr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by isr | Hacker News Reader

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Before you eulogize UEFA too much (ok, too late, you already did), answer me this.

Where did Infantino come from? Answer: UEFA

And for that matter, which continent did his predecessor Sepp Blatter start his football admin career in? Hint: he's not from Asia or Africa

Probably the most widely admired admin in big-time football right now is al-Khalifa, the head of PSG. A Qatari. You know - those guys who organized by common consent is considered the best World Cup in modern times (during which EUROPEAN teams were ostentatiously protesting on the pitch - while keeping VERY quiet WHEN playing a World Cup in a country who is still facilitating an ONGOING GENOCIDE) .

And from reports, he doesn't want to touch FIFA with a 10 foot barge pole.

Europe had managed to keep the lions share of footballs global revenues to itself, while keeping Africa as basically a "football nursery" where teenagers get almost trafiked across Europe before 90% are discarded.

This is one of the reasons why a (corrupt, mendacious & sly) Infantino had some support across Africa & Asia. Because he played off that imbalance. Rather like one mafioso giving you "protection" against another mafia mob.

Just saying, Europe & UEFA arent necessarily the angels in any of this ...

> Where did Infantino come from? Answer: UEFA

That’s such a weak argument. So every European person or organisation guilty by association? Are the Swiss doubly guilty?

> Europe had managed to keep the lions share of footballs global revenues to itself, while keeping Africa as basically a "football nursery" where teenagers get almost trafiked across Europe before 90% are discarded.

UEFA is not running any African competition or including any African team. What’s your point?

African federations might see the short term gains of Infantino’s bribes, but long term maximising profit is corrosive. They have a much better shot at growing the African cup of nations, which is not doing too bad and increasing in popularity (even in Europe to some degree).

It is not hypocritical of UEFA to point that out.

> Just saying, Europe & UEFA arent necessarily the angels in any of this

That’s a strawman. Nobody said that.

You speak of strawmen, yet completely miss what I said, and make up stuff I never said (ironic, huh). I'll make it simple for you.

The pathetic state of football governance is, largely, down to corrupt EUROPEAN admins (UEFA or not). The only main non-Euro contributor I can recall in my lifetime was Havelange.

And the previous imbalance in spreading revenues commensurate with the talent (and its the talent, much if it African, which makes the product so appealing, hence the revenues) is largely (not entirely) down to Europe insisting on keeping hold of the bulk of it.

This situation is being rectified, but MY POINT WAS that the existence of this unfair situation created a playing field which allowed corrupt & unscrupulous mobsters (Blatter, Infantino, etc) to get THEIR personal agenda through on the back of pretending to combat the above.

Literally no-one thinks Infantino is good for the "game". But there are those FA's (even some in Europe) who think he might be better for THEIR countries. And thats not easily waved away by saying "oh, they're just personally corrupt Africans, etc". There was an underlying unfairness in the system IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And THE ENTIRE POINT of my original post was pointing out where the origin of this ORIGINAL SYSTEMIC UNFAIRNESS came from.

None of this was an attempt at whitewashing corruption & mismanagement in African or Asian FA's. The background point, which went WAY above your head, is that in the worst case - they're about as bad as their European counterparts.

> while keeping VERY quiet WHEN playing a World Cup in a country who is still facilitating an ONGOING GENOCIDE

It's mystifying that this claim can be made ambiguously to more than one former World Cup host.

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