NEWS WATCH - Blazer Donzo With CONCACAF

"I'm retiring to spend more time with my iPod."

Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF's General Secretary, will step down at the end of the year he announced today. Blazer, a frequent homeless person impersonator, will still remain a member of FIFA's Executive Committee.

“My passion for soccer is undiminished and it is time for me to explore new challenges within this wonderful sport,” Blazer said in a statement. “Running a governing body has been an incredibly fulfilling job, but there are so many other areas of the sport where as a senior executive, I will make a great impact.”

Blazer, 66, a gregarious, larger-than-life figure, has been in charge of CONCACAF for 21 years. During his tenure, he grew the confederation’s revenue from $140,000 to $40 million through various initiatives, including the increasingly popular Gold Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.

Blazer has also been a member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 1997. He will retain that position.

“Chuck’s contributions to the sport over the last 30 years are unparalleled,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said. “All of us in CONCACAF owe him a great debt of gratitude for his sustained efforts in helping to take the sport to where it is today. There is no doubt that he will continue to make an impact in whatever role he chooses.”

Blazer’s tenure was not without controversy. He played an integral role in the drama surrounding the bidding for the 2022 World Cup, which many thought would be awarded to the US. Instead, it was awarded to Qatar.

During the FIFA presidential election earlier this year, Blazer was again involved in a controversial episode when he initiated an investigation into ethics violations, including bribery allegations, involving CONCACAF vice president Jack Warner several Caribbean federations and FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar. As a result of the investigations, bin Hammam was eventually banned for life from all football-related activities and Warner, of Trinidad, resigned from football administration duties.

“In looking back at my years at CONCACAF, I have great satisfaction in having achieved all my objectives, including unprecedented revenues, new initiatives in competitions and modern technology in administration,” Blazer said.

Also, Blazer will still continue his duties as the bringer of joy to boys and girls around the world each December 25th.


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Phun With Photoshop: Blatter is a Deutschbag

Original Photo: FIFA President/Strongman Sepp Blatter announcing Germany as the host of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Don't get the reference? See here.




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Sepp Blatter's FIFA Re-Election in the Proper Perspective

Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA's President today in one of the more lopsided elections in history.

Here's how Blatter's 91.63% total (186 votes out of 203 possible) compares to some of his dictatorial counterparts:

Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov 2007 Election 80%

Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev 2005 Election 91.15%

Syria's Bashar al-Assad 2007 Election 97.6%

Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdihumahmedow 2007 election 82.63%

Belarussia's Alexander Lukashenko 2006 82%

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 2005 Election 63%

Rwanda's Paul Kagame 2010 Election 92.9%

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak 2005 Election 88.6%

Zaire's Mobuto Sese Kuto 1984 Election: 99.16%

Saddam Hussein 1995 Election: 99.96%

Sorry for the downer of a post, but this is the sort of sh*t that really gets our goat. Soccer is such a beautiful game at its core, but people like Blatter, and more importantly the larger organization of FIFA are doing their damnedest to rub the shine off this sport.

How are people supposed to recruit newbies into our sport when this is what passes as acceptable?

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