I have decided to run the intricate politics that could have been involved in the high wired diplomatese which Dr Amos Adamu may have ignorantly walked into without knowing though, some elements of greed or ‘let me see how it works’ may have held him spell bound, not knowing when to turn out and leave.
For the purposes of my thinking, I believe the English are squarely in the middle of it all. England is also involved in the Adamu scandal.
Remember Adamu was in Russia recently and met with the Russian bid guys in Moscow. England was prepared to pay the $800,000 cheque but felt Adamu won't play their game because they knew he had a Russian circuit he may eventually go for, given the fact that it was held that “Russians like Nigerians can bribe God.”It is true that England is desperate and panicking because the Russians are gaining ground on them. Since England can't apply for 2022 World Cup, their only chance to host the World Cup is 2018.
Everything is pointing to England right now, but the bid has been having problems since it was launched last year in London. Dr Amos Adamu met with the English bid team which is headed by Andy Anson, Paul Elliot (a former player) and another guy. They've been pressing for his vote ever since. Also just before the final of the U-17 women championship in Trinidad & Tobago, the Korean and English bid teams were in Cairo to present their case to CAF.
WHY ENGLAND AND US RIGHT NOW ARE PANICKING.
It gets very interesting...The reason why they are panicking is Australia, Korea and others have stepped up their own lobbying processes. I sincerely think Spain/Portugal are just wasting their time. I don't see them getting anything, but they are also acting as spoilers which is complicating the whole process for England... Also don't forget Qatar... FIFA is big on legacy and may need to balance things out.
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| Blatter, FIFA President, bewildered? |
Middle East has never hosted a World Cup before, since FIFA is very big on legacy, do not be surprised if Qatar gets 2022...I just don't see FIFA going to two big countries back to back...Qatar can get it with the jinx broken by South Africa in the 2010 World Cup hosting.
England's chances are honestly slim. They are worried about the threat from Russia, Holland/Belgium and Spain/Portugal. Moreso, Spain, Belgium all have votes in that 24 man executive committee. Their citizens will vote for their nations. Thus, England’s home votes are too tiny to be depended upon. That is why they may have decided to play so dirty to get sympathy and force FIFA to give the 2018 bid to them. They had a compromised and willy-nilly ally to be messed up in one Dr Amos Adamu who is from Nigeria.
THE AMERICAN BID:
The US bid has been very arrogant about their whole approach. It's just after they realised they have to work hard for every vote that they noticed it's not going to be a given birthday cake. They may had wrongly thought it was going to be handed to them from the get go. Was that not how they got the Atlanta Olympics bid? This is FIFA not IOC.
I know for sure US is not getting anything from the Asian guys in the voting committee. That is the dilemma US bid is facing. Asia is surely supporting Qatar, Korea, Japan and probably, Australia. They are going to stay as a united group... This I know for sure...
The Americans never bothered to engage the African votes because I think they feel Africans didn't count. The Americans were not very inclusive at all....they are so exclusive and not respectful and respecting. The bid slips out of their calloused fingers!
SEE THIS AS A CASE STUDY:
Also, Dr Chung from Korea recently accused the US of trying to undermine their own bidding for 2022 World Cup by trying to get China to bid for the 2026 World Cup. Since the World Cup can't go to the same confederation back to back, having China bid for the 2026 World Cup will sway the votes to their favour.
CONCLUSION:
Being part of FIFA also requires having common sense especially when it comes to dealing with the very intricate diplomatese and issues like this. Here is our brother, the man from Zuru, which some can swear and swore he is from Ogbomosho found in the wilderness of things being done properly unlike the Nigerian ways he had manipulated the system to survive and found himself in the global setting of an institution like FIFA, which on its own has its intricate corruption infected ways of delivering its own things.
Great article on your blog... The only thing Adamu did wrong was being very naive and not even using his 6th sense to know they were on to him from the very beginning. As I gather more information, I am beginning to see how the dots are connecting. As you've noticed, FIFA has widen the probed which means they are now looking at everything from top to bottom. They want to find out where this originated from. This was a well orchestrated plan executed with great skill by the English bid who use their media to do their dirty work when bidding for events against other rivals. This was no exception this time as the Russians were up to their game and are going toe to toe with the them.
ReplyDeleteRemember how the English ran the media blitz on us when we were getting ready to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1999, The Commonwealth Games Abuja was bidding for, the World Cup in SA and many more. Up until Jan/Feb of 2010, they did everything they could to see if FIFA would change the venue and move it elsewhere. This is their trademark. They tried to do this to Jack Warner in the beginning when they were getting ready to launch their bid, but Jack caught up to their game very quickly and dealt with them, telling them openly, they should forget about hosting any FIFA tournament for as long as he is in charge of the bid committee. England started begging when they realized he wasn't bluffing and Blatter also warned them there was nothing he could do to help them unless they change their ways.
It's funny how this clowns mentioned England and USA but not any of the other bidders. That is the reason why FIFA decided to expand the probe. They want to dig deep since USA is struggling especially now that they've pulled out of 2018, they are not faring better against the other countries bidding for 2022. When the bid started over a year ago, it was all about England and USA. But with others now joined in, they are making them sweat and fight hard for every vote. It's so competitive they don't know who they can trust. This was done on purpose to throw things off...
ReplyDeleteTo be continued...
I took my time to read the IN DEFENCE OF ADAMU with plenty of initial indignation. I had a wonderful laughing session. A brilliant satire!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who follows this blog secretly now told me of this one. I argued that I was in your blog and the latest was what i read. We argued. I returned and found this piece.
By the time I read of your exposition, I submitted you have really done a good job.
I wish the FIFA investigators will get this piece.
I now appreciate there are so many intrigues involved. Mr. Fashikun, kudos to you.