Early Halloween
You must wonder about the political skills of the fella who runs FIFA. One would think he would be politically nimble. Nope. See this from AP:
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Norway’s soccer federation wants Gianni Infantino to step down immediately, piling more pressure on FIFA’s embattled president Friday.
Infantino is facing a revolt after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
The Norwegian federation held a meeting on Thursday and president Lise Klaveness said the decision had been made to ask Infantino to resign.
“We decided that there is no trust in Infantino now,” Klaveness told the Guardian. “We have been worried consistently and there has been one more step in worrying direction every year, every part of the year. The trust is now gone for us, there is no way back for Infantino.”
The announcement is the latest blow for Infantino as the fallout continues over his controversial plan to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said Thursday its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place despite FIFA abandoning and apologizing for its failed plan.
It reiterated its stance that it had lost confidence in Infantino.
Earlier this week Infantino appeared to have held off the potential of an internal revolt during a summit meeting with top staff in Rabat, Morocco.
FIFA said the president had been given the full support of those in attendance.
But UEFA’s response, followed by Norway’s direct call for him to resign shows the sense of anger from Europe, in particular, remains strong.
The English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election next March.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK said the national federation would also file a new complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee, which will include FFE, the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban at the World Cup.
“We have reached a situation where extraordinary measures are needed to create lasting change,” Klaveness said.
I don’t understand his move to cozy up to Trump. Trump hasn’t been a friend of Europe with his tariffs and attacks on NATO. It is kind of tone deaf. What is not mentioned in the story is that Jared Kushner’s brother was supposed to be one of the investors in the now dead World Cup deal. In Europe, Trump is about as popular as stepping on dog sh_t, and Europe is an integral part of FIFA. Infantino has certainly demonstrated a major lapse in political judgement. Just saying.
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Here is the latest from the Chron on the U.S. Senate race:
Ken Paxton still has a Republican problem.
Don’t take my word for it. The last batch of major public polls in the race for the U.S. Senate in Texas over the last two weeks tell the story, with Paxton still underperforming with GOP voters in each.
While Paxton’s 85% support among Republicans in a Texas Southern University poll released on Tuesday might seem solid, political operatives generally count on that number being over 90%, especially in competitive races. Gov. Greg Abbott, who is also up for reelection this year, is winning 90% of Republicans in the same poll.
Compare that to Democrat James Talarico, who had his own bruising primary battle with U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in the spring — and yet still had 97% of Democrats in his corner heading into August, according to the TSU poll.
Let me repeat what I said earlier in the week:
I like it, much to the chagrin of some in the media and some Democratic Party activists. The voters are getting there. I think I have said it before. Voters are often ahead of the political players. I never sell them short. I am sure there are folks out there who want to muddle things up. We need to keep our eyes on the bigger picture.
State Rep. Talarico will be holding a rally this Sunday evening on the San Jac campus on Spencer Highway in Pasadena. Taking it to Pasadena voters. I love it.
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“Today” did a story this morning on folks already getting Halloween merch close to three months before trick or treaters hit your door. See the featured photo. I will wait to get my candy to hand out a few days before Halloween.
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The Astros are in San Diego for three this weekend.