Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Company You Keep - An Open Letter to Hublot

Maybe, just maybe it is time to rethink your partnership.  Tempting though it is to comment further,  I am going to simply allow the words of another organization to speak.  Hublot www.hublot.com, if you REALLY LOVE FOOTBALL - walk away from this asshole.  You are better than this.

Courtesy of the INFOWEB

Quoted directly from For The Win (a sports blog for USA Today) -
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/10/13-ridiculous-things-sepp-blatter-said-in-this-wild-interview

Sepp Blatter said so much Sepp Blatter-esque stuff in this interview with Russian newswire TASS. No point waiting around, let’s dive right in:
1. “Everybody said who is responsible for [the FIFA scandal]: “That’s the president, Blatter, he is responsible!” But I object. How can I be responsible morally for all the people? “
If there’s evidence widespread corruption taking place at an organization where you’re the president, you’re going to be held responsible for it. It’s a negative incentive, which is why good leaders prioritize rooting-out wrongdoing in their organizations.
2. “It is then those, who have lost the World Cup. England against Russia. They lost the World Cup. And the USA lost the World Cup against Qatar … the FIFA president is a ball in the big political power game.”
Even if there were political motivations driving the FIFA investigation, as Blatter suggests, that doesn’t then negate the evidence of wrongdoing authorities subsequently found. Blatter’s theorizing about different motivations is a red herring.
3. “You cannot destroy FIFA. FIFA is not the Swiss bank. FIFA is not a commercial company.”
Wait for it …
4. “Since I became president of FIFA, we have made FIFA a big commercial company.”
In the space of two questions, Blatter referred to FIFA as both “not a commercial company” and “a big commercial company.
5. “All other members are elected by their Confederations. So, therefore, I am the boss of the government that has not been elected by me. And therefore it is very difficult to govern FIFA.”
Blatter is trying to absolve himself of blame, but is essentially describing a federalist system. Difficult to govern at times, yes, but the idea of diversifying power is actually an incredibly effective tool of fighting large-scale corruption.
6. “I think this crisis, and this is also the idea of my lawyers, has nothing to do with any criminal activity.”
No, the crisis has everything to do with allegations of criminal activity.
7. “They wanted to say – We, Ethics Committee, we are not at the service of the president, we are totally independent. This is wrong. They can be independent but they don’t need to be against me.”
The ethics committee does need to be against any FIFA president — unless there’s evidence of unethical behavior.
8. “Now Europe has eight members and three vice presidents. Why Europe should have three vice presidents when Africa has more member associations? That’s not correct.”
This mindset has been formalized by FIFA and is why Blatter’s has remained so powerful, but it’s the same reason why FIFA is so prone to corruption.
9. “UEFA is affected by anti-FIFA virus for years before my presidency. They have an anti-FIFA virus.”
Yup, that’s what all this anti-FIFA stuff is. A virus.
10. “If the UEFA will take the presidency, then we are lost. UEFA wanted to change the organization of FIFA. FIFA is actually a federation of 209 national associations. What UEFA wanted to do is to make FIFA a holding of only six confederations.”
UEFA wants to correct a system where China has the same amount of organizational power as Montserrat. It’d be the most sane thing FIFA would’ve ever done.
11. “I still have the full support of President Putin. This is good. And I support him in all discussions, in all situations.”
A bold declaration of support. When’s Putin next up for reelection? 2018? Maybe Sepp’s angling for a Putin-Blatter ticket.
12. “The Swiss media got very aggressive against me because I am from a very small canton, Valais, in the mountains and some of the people here think those coming from the mountains eat with their fingers. Primitive.”
Ah, yes, the old ‘the media hate be because they think I eat with my fingers’ defense.
13. “If God is with me, I do hope that I’ll be back as president of FIFA. Then I could at least conduct this congress. This is my dream.”
There’s a scary thought.

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