A jubilant Sepp Blatter declared after his re-election Friday as president of FIFA soccer that he “will bring back the boat. I will bring back the boat to the beach.”
Bring it back? If you believe the U.S. Justice Department, FIFA has been immersed in the deep waters of racketeering and fraud for years, even decades — a period nicely coinciding with Blatter’s four previous terms.
Blatter was of course not among those FIFA officials indicted earlier in the week by Justice officials, but he has emerged as tone deaf regarding the indictments’ implications, refusing to step aside for new leadership — even at the age of 79.
Meanwhile, his downplaying of personal responsibility now has been compounded by the nasty suggestion that the indictments were motivated by U.S. anger that its bid for the 2022 World Cup was passed over.
Does anyone seriously believe this fellow has any intention of being an agent of reform?
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