FIFA FIXA

[Regs]

Fascinating stuff coming out of the unsealed Chuck Blazer testimony... Read the full document here:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2093153/blazer.pdf

 

[freddy]

ADHD totally prevents me from making my way through that. The shiny squirrel showed up in about page 4.

Regs: Do you understand everything?
Freddy: Uh, I think so, your honor.
Regs: Okay, bend over, we are going to take a look.
Freddy: Really? My lawyer didn't tell me about this procedure.
Regs: Don't worry, this is purely for my enjoyment.

 

[Regs]

It's funny cause it's true

 

[Regs]

The gift that keeps on giving, Jack Warner on Warner TV:

 

[freddy]

I wouldn't be surprised if some key people accidentally fell out of a helicopter into a mud pit in Malaysia, had spontaneous heart attacks/strokes and some fleeing to Grand Cayman. This is crazy.

 

[bandcamp]

Will there be any FIFA representation at our WC or are they all too scared?

 

[Regs]

Good question though isn't Blatter still on record as being at the final here in Vancouver?

 

[djones]

The World Cup bribe that cost Canada (and the US) dearly happened around the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The US was a front runner than and the old NASL was on it's last legs before Mexico received it's second World Cup in 16 years. Havelange was on the take back then.

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/new-y...ow-steve-ross-planned-to-sign-maradona-16123/

Imagine the likes of Maradona, Platini, Igor Belanov, Hugo Sanchez, Gary Linekar, Careca, Butragueno, Michael Laudrup and Karl-Hienz Rummenigge at their best in the US. NASL may have been a major league in the world thus 30 years later.

Could have been a much different footballing career for some of the people we know that were coming through during that time. Canada might not be in such a hole and have a better history with a much deeper footballing culture than it has now.

 

[RL RCD]

“Can you imagine the 26 best players in the world playing here in the United States? Could you imagine what that would mean for football in the United States?”

No, I can't! If it was possible in mid eighties it would be also possible in mid nineties (after WC 1994) and we know that it did not happen in nineties either. More than 20 years after 1994 WC we are still not seeing the best players in their prime coming to play in (now) MLS.
New York Cosmos 30 years ago was attracting older soccer players and the same case is today (LA Galaxy, New York, etc.).

 

[Regs]

Um, yeah...

http://beta.advob.com/index.php?tab1=article&id=259

What exactly would that solve? This is what I meant in a previous post of people taking advantage of the opportunity to get up on their soapbox.

 

[djones]

“Can you imagine the 26 best players in the world playing here in the United States? Could you imagine what that would mean for football in the United States?”

No, I can't! If it was possible in mid eighties it would be also possible in mid nineties (after WC 1994) and we know that it did not happen in nineties either. More than 20 years after 1994 WC we are still not seeing the best players in their prime coming to play in (now) MLS.
New York Cosmos 30 years ago was attracting older soccer players and the same case is today (LA Galaxy, New York, etc.).

You know how the MLS works and the salary cap issues and import rules? You know how both leagues operated differently? You realize my post was about how Canada has suffered because of the loss of that league? I think you missed my point.

Not sure if you were around back then but the difference between soccer in the early '80's and the mid '90's was drastically different both here in Canada and the States. Although the NASL was on it's last legs there were still a fan base and investors with more money than brains who wanted to spend money on the next big thing (see USFL).

In 1994, there was neither those types of investors, a league or a true soccer fan base. In 1994, the investors the MLS were luck to persuade (Anheuser Busch etc..) had to start from scratch with a league that they promised to start for hosting the World Cup (founded 1993/started 1996), a fan base and a new soccer community that didn't have any national league for 10 years. The US went to Italia '90 with basically a University team.

The 80's was also a decadent decade where spending was at record level, as well as rising debt levels in the US, where as the 90's was the reaction to that action. Starting a league was harder as we saw a push for salary caps/luxury tax in leagues like the NHL (work stoppage 1994/95). In Canada, we saw the CSL fold and we even lost two NHL teams in the '90's.

Football development during that time between the NASL and the MLS in Canada saw the CSL come and go. It was good for a young generation of players but it wasn't on the same level as the NASL with foreign talent and wages. Most of the players I played with in that CSL league had to have an outside job that paid the bills. Lesser players like yours truly didn't get paid unless we saw the field and especially in Vancouver, that was next to impossible.

At the time of the NASL last days, there were lots of Canadians playing for teams as there was no import rules on Canadian players like there is in the MLS today. If you look through some of the NASL rosters from the '80's, there were more Canadians playing in the league than Americans and making a living at the sport. MLS is still difficult for Canadian players to play for US teams as we still count as imports.

In my opinion, Canada has really never recovered from that time period and those years lost (10 or so) would put any country behind let alone countries like the US and Canada who really don't have a footballing culture.

Besides, as good as it was to have the World Cup in the U.S. in 1994 with Romario, Baggio, Bebeto and Bergkamp, it doesn't quite have the same ring as seeing Maradona at al at their best.

 

[djones]

No for a more sinister turn to events...

Germany sells weapons to Saudis for votes for 2006
http://www.theguardian.com/football...eal-saudi-valcke-warner-delaney-ireland-henry

 

[Regs]

 

[RL RCD]

You know how the MLS works and the salary cap issues and import rules? You know how both leagues operated differently? You realize my post was about how Canada has suffered because of the loss of that league? I think you missed my point.

Not sure if you were around back then but the difference between soccer in the early '80's and the mid '90's was drastically different both here in Canada and the States. Although the NASL was on it's last legs there were still a fan base and investors with more money than brains who wanted to spend money on the next big thing (see USFL).

In 1994, there was neither those types of investors, a league or a true soccer fan base. In 1994, the investors the MLS were luck to persuade (Anheuser Busch etc..) had to start from scratch with a league that they promised to start for hosting the World Cup (founded 1993/started 1996), a fan base and a new soccer community that didn't have any national league for 10 years. The US went to Italia '90 with basically a University team.

The 80's was also a decadent decade where spending was at record level, as well as rising debt levels in the US, where as the 90's was the reaction to that action. Starting a league was harder as we saw a push for salary caps/luxury tax in leagues like the NHL (work stoppage 1994/95). In Canada, we saw the CSL fold and we even lost two NHL teams in the '90's.

Football development during that time between the NASL and the MLS in Canada saw the CSL come and go. It was good for a young generation of players but it wasn't on the same level as the NASL with foreign talent and wages. Most of the players I played with in that CSL league had to have an outside job that paid the bills. Lesser players like yours truly didn't get paid unless we saw the field and especially in Vancouver, that was next to impossible.

At the time of the NASL last days, there were lots of Canadians playing for teams as there was no import rules on Canadian players like there is in the MLS today. If you look through some of the NASL rosters from the '80's, there were more Canadians playing in the league than Americans and making a living at the sport. MLS is still difficult for Canadian players to play for US teams as we still count as imports.

In my opinion, Canada has really never recovered from that time period and those years lost (10 or so) would put any country behind let alone countries like the US and Canada who really don't have a footballing culture.

Besides, as good as it was to have the World Cup in the U.S. in 1994 with Romario, Baggio, Bebeto and Bergkamp, it doesn't quite have the same ring as seeing Maradona at al at their best.

djones, my point is that I am quite sure that Maradona, Platini, Hugo Sanchez and other great players at that time would not come to play in USA during eighties no matter what! Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid, etc. were preferred destinations and having WC 1986 in USA would not change that - in my opinion.
Early eighties were already showing signs of economic problems in USA so it is simply hard to believe that WC 1986 would change (for better) the soccer map in North America and attract some of those great players (mentioned in that article) to play in NASL instead of Spain and Italy (two strongest leagues at that time in Europe).

The disappearance of NASL certainly impacted Canadian soccer and you are right about that (as would the disappearance of any other organized league). By the way, does anybody know how many Canadian players played in NASL during seventies, eighties compared to today's MSL numbers?

 

[Regs]

I think there were more players just from Vancouver back then than there are from all of Canada in the MLS right now

 

[RL RCD]

No for a more sinister turn to events...

Germany sells weapons to Saudis for votes for 2006
http://www.theguardian.com/football...eal-saudi-valcke-warner-delaney-ireland-henry

From that article: "The FAI chief executive, John Delaney, said the payment was agreed after he confronted Blatter about Henry’s role in Ireland’s World Cup play-off defeat. Fifa has claimed the payment was a loan towards the construction of a stadium that was later written off".

I wonder if there is any chance that my bank writes off my mortgage!?

 

[trece verde]

Regs, there would have been more players just from BURNABY in the NASL at the time than from all of Canada in MLS now. DJones is correct.

 

[Jigsaw]

Regs, there would have been more players just from BURNABY in the NASL at the time than from all of Canada in MLS now. DJones is correct.

I believe there were as many as 64 players from BC playing in the NASL in 1980.
How times have changed.

 

[Regs]

Funny thing is that I can only remember 2 Americans... Shep Messing and Kyle Root Jr.

Was Cryuff over-the-hill when he came over?

Pretty sure Rudy Kroll wasn't. Or Beardsley & Grobbelaar

 

[djones]

Either was Giorgio Chinaglia (29) and Julio Caeser Romero (20) of Paraguay who left the Cosmos for Fluminese before playing for FC Barcelona.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_César_Romero