FIFA gives press freedom, workers the finger

These headlines speak for themselves. Shame on FIFA.

Sacrificing press freedom on the altar of commercialism
Local journalists have accused world football governing body FIFA of acting as a bunch of ‘bullies‘ and ‘dictators’ with a neo-colonialist mentality, following what analysts see as ‘unreasonable’ media restrictions on the 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage.
BizCommunity.com

More Web sites ‘illegally’ using Fifa’s trademarks are expected to be launched, says a lawyer
Fifa expects more Web sites that illegally use its trademarks, such as 2010 and World Cup, to appear as the games draw closer. The federation’s trademarks revolve around the words “2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa” and combinations of those words.
ITWeb

With world domination, no one does it like Fifa
If I was a mascot I know who I’d want to be: Zakumi, the green-haired leopard for the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. I’d get to proclaim being “proudly South African” from the rooftops while coining it in China.
Mail & Guardian

Zakumi: Chinese workers earn R23 a day
Trade union federation Cosatu is up in arms about the fact that light-up models of Zakumi, the Fifa World Cup mascot, are being manufactured in China by workers who are being grossly exploited.
Times LIVE

Money for kicks
I am always amused when I see the game of football referred to as “The Beautiful Game” when, in my view, it would be more pertinent to call it “The Greedy Game.”
Business Standard

South Africa’s cup is failing to set the world on fire
The English FA have returned some of their tickets to Fifa and sales in Germany and Holland have also been slow, amid the disconnected though still unhelpful publicity surrounding the attack on the Togo team bus in Angola and doubts raised by influential football figures such as Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeness over cost and security.
The Guardian

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