Ileciti sportivi, corruzione, calcioscommesse: un fenomeno, purtroppo, mondiale

The amount of news these days on various issues of corruption in sports is pretty remarkable. Here are a few notable items that have recently caught my attention (far from exhaustive):

• Yesterday, the Trinidad Daily Express reported that Jack Warner (former FIFA official and current public works minister in Trinidad) has been cleared of bribery allegations by the Trinidad government. Today, the Trinidad Daily Express says not so fast. Sordid details on this turnabout are provided by the consistently excellent Lasana Liburd at Wired868.
• Chuck Blazer, former CONCACAF head and the guy who blew the whistle on Warner last year, is under investigation for fraud. He still appears to think that he is able to extract millions of dollars from CONCACAF. This may show up in a NY court, but I have my doubts.
• FIFA has appointed International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to serve as its chief corruption investigator. Perhaps of note, Moreno-Ocampo said this in a 2009 interview: "I defended Maradona, the football player, who had some problems with journalists."
• Italian soccer also finds itself in the midst of a match-fixing scandal, of which an Italian prosecutor says of the investigation, "we could go on forever." Italian PM Mario Monti said of the scandal, "Maybe soccer should be suspended for two or three years. It's not a government proposal, but it's a question we should ask ourselves." Declan Hill says it's "worse than you think" but provides few details.

Other examples and reflections directly on the Blog