FIFA, which is the word’s governing body of soccer, has been accused throughout the years to be nothing more than a corrupt organization which uses bullying tactics and threats to get its way. The latest FIFA controversy involves the upcoming World Cup tournament in Brazil in 2014.

There will be 12 separate stadiums that are to be newly built or refurbished for the event and FIFA is insisting that they all have to sell beer. The problem is, the country of Brazil doesn’t allow alcohol to be sold at soccer games due to past instances of serious crowd trouble.

Jerome Valcke, general secretary of FIFA, said that all stadiums will be forced to sell beer and that’s the end of the discussion. However, politicians in Brazil still haven’t voted on a bill that deals with FIFA’s World Cup Law due to the differences they have between themselves and FIFA. The politicians were to vote on the bill at the end of 2011, but they still haven’t done it as they say there are a few issues they’re not happy with.

The most important one is the beer issue though. FIFA said beer must be sold to protection its sponsors’ trademarks, whatever that means. Valcke said that beer is going to be sold because it’s an important part of the FIFA’s World Cup and it’s not negotiable. He added that he may sound arrogant in saying so, but there’s no option when it comes to the matter.

Valcke told Brazilian media that the right to sell beer needs to be a part of the FIFA World Cup Law.  But this isn’t going over too well with some people in Brazil because alcoholic drinks have been banned in soccer stadiums there since 2003. This was made law in something called the Supporters’ Statutes. The country’s health minister and other politicians have urged the government not to back down to FIFA and to put people’s safety ahead of monetary gains.

FIFA of course, want to rake in every penny they can get. However, they don’t really have much of a choice here. Brazil seems to have the soccer bullies over a barrel because it’s highly unlikely the soccer organization could find a new host country in time for the tournament. It may find a nation such as Germany or England with all of the stadiums in place, but the logistics planning and everything else takes a couple of years to plan properly.

FIFA also has a problem with the Brazilian government because the nation offers soccer tickets for half price to senior citizens and students. Again, FIFA sees this as money flying out the window and wants the practice halted for the World Cup. Valcke said FIFA is willing to print up a total of 300,000 tickets in a special pricing category that can then be sold for $25 apiece. He added that these need to be strictly controlled though to make sure that non-students and non-seniors can’t buy them.

He feels it won’t be fair of people who can afford full-price tickets are getting them for $25. He’s apparently worried about it because student ID cards are easy to obtain in Brazil. It’s believed that Brazilian congress will vote on the matter in March.

FIFA, which has recently been proved to be one of the most corrupt governing sports bodies in the world, has managed to outrage just about the whole population of Great Britain and several other nations around the world by refusing to allow the English national soccer team to honor its war veterans.

The outcry comes after FIFA has told England their players won’t be able to have poppies sewn into their shirts for their upcoming game against World and European Champions Spain at London’s Wembley Stadium on Nov. 12. The poppy is a symbol of honor and remembrance for all of those who fought and all those who died in the line of duty since the First World War.

In Britain and many Commonwealth countries Nov. 11 is known as Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, or Poppy Day. In America, a similar occasion is known as Veterans Day. World War I ended on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month. In Britain, the second Sunday in November is also used to honor veterans and is known as Remembrance Sunday. Along with holding two minutes of silence on Remembrance Day, most Britons also attach a small red poppy to the left side of their clothing above the heart.

The English Football Association wanted to honor its veterans and educate younger fans about the day by wearing the poppy. However, FIFA told the association that it won’t allow any changes to the team’s official uniform. Numerous charities and war heroes condemned FIFA’s decision on Nov. 4 and reminded the soccer body that it wouldn’t be in existence if it wasn’t for the men and women who fought for freedom.

FIFA said it won’t allow any changes to the uniform as other countries would then want to do the same thing when commemorating special events. Many soccer fans see it nothing more than a childish act by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who doesn’t like the fact that the English FA often questions the way his organization is run. Some Britons have said the team should defy the ruling and point out that many teams wear black arm bands when commemorating the deaths of certain people. They don’t understand why a poppy can’t be worn on an armband.

FIFA has no power over the English Premier League though and all 20 of its teams are wearing poppies on their sweaters until Remembrance Sunday. Last year the IRB, which is the governing body for world rugby, didn’t have a problem when both the English and Australian national teams honored their Armed Forces by having poppies sewn into their shirts during a game.

The Poppy Appeal started back in 1921 as a way to raise money to support the charity work done by the Royal British Legion and to pay respect to everybody who sacrificed themselves in the fight for freedom. The English team will wear uniforms with poppies on them in training sessions and will then auctioned them off for charity.

To millions of soccer fans around the world it didn’t come as a shock that the man who had the nerve to challenge FIFA boss Sepp Blatter was quickly banned for life for allegedly bribing soccer officials in the Caribbean. It’s sort of like a Mafia godfather executing the punk who’s trying to take over the family business. There’s one exception though, the mob appears to be less corrupt than FIFA these days.

Mohamed bin Hammam recently got kicked out of soccer’s ongoing circus for life after Blatter acted as judge, jury, and executioner in a two-day hearing that Bin Hammam didn’t attend. Bin Hammam called it an act of revenge and he’s got a lot of people believing it. He told the BBC that FIFA is angry somebody stood up to Blatter and the organization and the easiest way to make sure it doesn’t happen again is to just get rid of him.

FIFA announced the ban on July 23 when it said Bin Hammam, who was the Asian Football Confederation president, was guilty of trying to bribe officials when running against Blatter in this year’s FIFA presidential elections. In the end, Blatter’s was the only name on the ballot, as it usually is, and he ran unopposed. A dictatorship if there ever was one.

But Blatter’s backed himself into a corner now since Bin Hammam was a key figure in the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar securing the rights to host the World Cup in 2022. Qatar is Bin Hammam’s homeland. The rest of the world is wondering if the country will be stripped of the World Cup now that Blatter has found his opponent guilty of corruption.

There’s a good chance Bin Hammam is guilty though since corruption runs rampant throughout the soccer world and FIFA. Another top official, Jack Warner was spared an investigation of corruption earlier in the year if he just walked away. He did and everything was swept under the rug by Blatter. In addition, officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester have also received life bans from FIFA this year.

But it’s unlikely Bin Hammam will walk away quietly like Warner did. He said he’s going to fight the ban and will clear his name by appealing to Switzerland’s Court of Arbitration for Sport. First he has to appeal to FIFA, which he called nothing more than a kangaroo court, and doesn’t figure to get anywhere with it. He’s depending on the Swiss court to be a better stage to tell his side of the story.

Blatter continues to fight off his own corruption allegations and with fewer potential witnesses left in FIFA to testify against him, it’s possible he may come out of the farce unscathed. He’s losing whatever little credibility he had in the first place on a daily basis as FIFA is constantly subject to damning headlines all over the world.

But the only headline that would make most soccer fans happy these days would read; Blatter Resigns.