Penny For John McBeith's Thoughts

Aaaannnnd welcome back.  Sorry for the delay, hard drive crashed on me & I have been busy.  There has been an election on you know...

You might remember the strange case four years ago of the former SFA president John McBeith, who had to resign as FIFA vice president elect for some comments he made about certain FIFA delegates.  The damaging quotes were

"As soon as you hit Africa it's a slightly different kettle of fish. They're poor nations and want to grab what they can.

I know two or three whom I'd want to count my fingers after shaking hands with them.

I presume the Caribbean is much the same - they just come at it in a different way.

If I come across corruption I have to expose it. I must try to stay true to my beliefs and hope I don't get seduced."

The fate of McBeith came to mind on Tuesday during the testimony of David Triesman during parliament’s inquiry into the running of the FA and the botched bid the World Cup in 2018.  A testimony where Triesman named four FIFA delegates that he believed were seeking bribes.  Before that came evidence of McBeith’s synopsis of the rulers of African football.

The Sunday Times submitted evidence that claimed that $1.5 million was paid to CAF president Issa Hayatou and to Jaques Anouma by Qatar, supposedly in return for votes for their bid for the 2022 World Cup.  There were also claims that Qatar “employed” an African fixer.

However it was the claims of Triesman that garnered the headlines.  Two of the names, Nicolas Leoz and Worawi Makudi are new to people.  The other two people are not, for Triesman also named McBeith’s nemesis Jack Warner and Ricardo Teixeira the boss of Brazilian football.

Warner has form for these types of stories.  McBeith aleges that after Scotland played Trinidad in 2004, Warner requested that the Trinidad half of the receipts be paid to his own account.  There were stories surrounding the “proceeds” of Trinidad’s 2006 World Cup campaign and also there were stories about the contract for the sale of those World Cup tickets ending up with Warner’s son’s.  Teixeira might not have the same charge sheet, however he is the son in law of the former FIFA president Joao Havelange.

Whatever happens with this story, there is one thing that the English FA should ask themselves.  Why did they rush to suck up to these people so much?  After all, McBeith did warn us all what they were like.  It’s just I suppose that the English were so desperate to host the World Cup.