11 Oct 2015 17:55:53
Hey Ed do you or any of the other elders running the pages know or are allowed to speculate on this new dirt on Platini? I know they can't select their own committees etc and therefore be totally in control of any scoundrels that get in but you just knew he was as bent as his boss.
{Ed002's Note - Just to be clear, Blatter is not the "boss" of Platini. There were issues that became clear regarding Platini about 18 months ago. It is those issues that are coming to the fore. There is then some additional fluff, which the US do not think is necessarily even charge worthy which could see Platini switch to being a witness for part of any case. Overlaying all of this now are a number of specifics. The first will be to deflect the efforts to move the election forward or back. The second will need to be the clarification of charges against a number of people - this will likely come from the US but in itself will likely require various folks be extradited to America, probably Florida - and that could take many years (perhaps even 10). The third is that a number of clubs (effectively two with the support of one other for certain and I think now two more) are looking to accelerate a pan-European breakaway league. Next up is the election itself - will it be viable with perhaps only two decent candidates from the outset? Then there is the issue of the Euros in 2016 (Platini's baby) - how will they be impacted. Then there are going to be sponsorship issues for FIFA. Then the 2022 world cup issue will be back to the fore. And whilst all of this is going on, the assets of CONCACAF have been frozen - this is where the US started with their investigation and a number of accounts are frozen (certainly any in US Jurisdiction).
The United States Justice Department does not work quickly and such it could take a long time (years) to come to court in the United States. The Swiss Feds have acted as a result of information provided by the US which is, I understand, compelling enough for them to begin a separate investigation.}
11 Oct 2015 19:46:00
Cheers Ed. Sounds like the investigative process will be a right mess given that Warner is still fighting his extradition. So in your eyes will Platini serve after his suspension? Is this "new evidence" just with regards to that payment made to Platini outwith his contract?
{Ed002's Note - I am not going to get the detail. If Warner eventually gets extradited it will be a new ball game in any case. All of this could take years.}
11 Oct 2015 21:36:01
I'm actually a little concerned that all this stuff surrounding Platini may affect Celtic, I'll explain why.
The current champions route CL Group Stage qualifying format was introduced in 2010 or 2011 and let's be honest it helps us out quite a bit having to play the champions of teams from Sweden, Slovenia, Poland, Northern Ireland, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Iceland etc from the 'lesser nations' as opposed to teams from 'tougher and bigger' nations like Ukraine, Russia, Holland, Turkey or even Germany, France, Italy, England and Spain teams that are finishing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in their leagues.
I realise that we're hardly doing well with it atm over the last two years but it would only get a whole lot harder if we didn't have this champions route we have currently. The point is UEFA and more importantly Platini was the actual person who introduced this qualifying route, if Platini gets found guilty of corruption or whatever then figure heads may look at what happened whilst he was president of UEFA, see that Platini introduced this format, and swiftly scrap it as it was Platini's influence that the Champions route was there in the first place for the 'lesser' nations as I'm sure they won't want a format within UEFA which was introduced by a corrupt former member of staff. Which would be bad news for us in our CL Group Stage qualifying hopes each season.
Now could anyone tell me that I'm talking rubbish or is there a real possibility of this happening if Platini gets ejected for corruption?
12 Oct 2015 00:25:05
Don't worry about how good the opposition is ,worry about how good we are.
12 Oct 2015 09:42:25
I don't think the format will be affected unless they can tie-in some corruption involved which created it in the first place. I also think most teams are ok with the format. Although, as I have said previously, the league champions of any European nation should automatically qualify for the Champions league and not have to take part in qualifying rounds. They qualified over a full season in their country. Now, like everyone else, I do understand why they opened the league out to 2nd, and 3rd placed teams (this co-efficient 4th placed entry really gets to me as well) as there is a lot of revenue created by certain teams from more lucrative leagues. But worried about the present format changing, not in my opinion anyway.
12 Oct 2015 17:24:01
It wasn't Plattini who introduced it. It was passed by UEFA. He is the head but it's not going to change just because he is removed. It may be changed if UEFA feel the format needs altering but I can't see it reverting back to how it was without very good reason, not just because Plattini got his collar felt. Well I hope not anyway.
12 Oct 2015 19:54:20
It's not the Platini or Blatter's corruption that worries me . It's the corruption of the people who control the game in Scotland that concerns me the most . We have plenty examples of their bias and rule bending in the past and I have no doubt that nothing has changed .
13 Oct 2015 09:43:55
if platini is guilty of this then shouid be a whole change in uefa ED no way non league winners shouid be allowed in the CL qualify are a joke I wouid put it baxk to the old way bring back the cup winners cup or replace that with a new tournament
{Ed002's Note - Guilty of what? Failing to invoice on time? Whatever happens with Platini will not decide the fate of UEFA, that will eventually be decided by the breakaway of a number of clubs within Europe to form their own league. Equally, whatever happens with Platini is of no consequence to the format of the competitions.}