FIFA is a legally-defined criminal organization, yet Canadian taxpayers have to cover all the loses while FIFA keeps all the profits – why? And why can’t we know how much the whole thing will cost? Democracy, anyone?

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7226257

On my beloved CBC Television this weekend to discuss the FIFA World Cup in Canada.

It was a strange interview – felt like it should have been done years ago, not a few days before the start of the tournament.

But for the record, here are my thoughts:

I love soccer and the World Cup. Few others have risked their lives to protect its integrity so its difficult to find someone who appreciates the sport more.

However, why does FIFA – an organization that the Southern District of New York Court declared was a criminal organization – get to keep all the profits of the tournament, why taxpayers have to cover all the expenses?

Why don’t we know how much those expenses are? The various layers of Canadian politicians react to accountability and democracy like most people do when asked to lick a fire hydrant – they recoil and run away. There are all kinds of secret deals and expenses connected to the tournament and we – the taxpayers – have no idea how much it will cost us. The estimates keep going up. Last week, the Federal Budget Office declared the cost would be $82 million dollars for each of the ten games. So approximately $820 million dollars to host 10 soccer games.

Okay….

Except the estimate the week before was lower and the estimate before that was lower and the estimate when the bid was put together was really lower.

Here is my guarantee – please hold me to it – The actual cost of the Canadian section will be far, far higher than $820 million. This is a boondoggle on an international scale. The bill will be quietly released (if ever) months/years after the event has wrapped up.

The Mafia Games

There is a precedent for all this secrecy, lack of democracy and potential corruption – the Montreal Olympic Games of 1976. The construction of the event was mostly in the hands of the Montreal Mafia – Frank Cotroni. They are the Canadian chapter of the Bonanno Crime Family of New York and they made out like the proverbial bandits. The Oxford Olympics Study estimated cost overrun at 720%. It took Canadian taxpayers until 2006 – thirty years after the event! – to pay off the bill.

Being the mob – the construction material and cement was shoddy. The stadium can barely function today and massive chunks of cement keep falling off it.

You would think with an iconic symbol of corruption and crime linked to a sport event Canadian politicians would be wary …. but no, this is Canada and they are Canadian politicians. The party will start, they will enjoy it, the taxpayers will pay.