Andy’s Sting In The Tale (06/02/26) "700 Kids Who‘ll Never Play Football in Fifa Youth Tournaments"
- Andy Smith
- Feb 6
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 7
Jahnnie keeps his power over Fifa by firstly looking after his special friends, and secondly the numerous dependant associations who vote for him.
In my years of writing Sting, I’d say his closest buddies include, USA, Russia and Israel and not far behind them, Saudi Qatar and other rich nations.
None of us will ever know just how far Russia’s reach, reaches or has reached.
But the baldy Fifa man who back in 2019, don’t forget, was personally awarded Putin’s ‘Order of Friendship’ is currently active on their behalf.
And as an aside, did you know there are over 1.3 Million Russian speakers in Israel, said to be well educated and very influential and amazingly making up circa 15% of the population.
That surprised me.
But I remember reading some time ago, in the NYT I think, that ‘Russian money’ follows a pattern.
The article or letter said it was almost certainly linked to Mr Epstein to allow him to come from nothing and nowhere to becoming rich enough to have his own ‘party island’ along with some amazing contacts.
And an awful lot of records and photos of his ‘victims/pals.
Why?
Maybe to deliver whatever he was delivering either for self-esteem but more likely as part of someone else’s bigger plan.
Enough to make some wonder why we are now we are concentrating on the numerous ‘soap operas’ rather than what might be happening in the world and in football because football is just a reflection of society and it mimics both the good and bad things happening.
Anyway this week Jahnnie has been working behind the scenes to bring his friend, Putin, back into the fold.
In an interview ‘staged’ for SKY he said among other self-aggrandising Bull-S, “The ban has not achieved anything.
Just created more hatred.
No country should ever be banned because of the acts of their political leaders”. (lol), says Andy.
He won’t persuade his difficult Europeans or Uefa to move, so plans a ‘Poisonal’ (like Fat Sam in the film), back door reinstatement via a newly invented Fifa youth tournament.
First a wedge, then soon stuff like his World Cup.
(Andy talking now).
Football is controlled by a very dangerous, self-interested, power-hungry individual with connections.
A man who buys continual votes by milking fans like the Tartan Army whose only choice is get ripped off or not go.
Sadly we also have seen how brazenly he treats some of his members as being ‘more equal than others’.
On Sky, aware of international pushback about his ‘Fifa Peace Prize’ to one of his Besties, King Donald, he said “Whatever we, Fifa, can do to help peace in the world, we should be doing it, Objectively Mr Trump deserves it”.
Objectively Jahnnie?
Outrageous stuff.
The Ukrainians responded.
Matvii Bidnyi, Sports Minister, said,
“Infantino’s words sound irresponsible and infantile.
They detach football from the reality in which 700 Ukrainian children have been killed by Russia.
700 who won’t be able to play in any Fifa tournaments.
And we now have over 100 footballers and 650 athletes and coaches, all killed by Russians.
War is a crime, it’s not politics.
It is Russia who politicises sport”.
This Week’s Sting
1. Carnage on Fifa’s Interweb
2. Robbery in the Car Parks
3. What does ‘Fifa’ Really Stand For?
4. The Providence Tartan Army
5. A Solution to Ticket Pricing
6. Our Coefficient is in Freefall
1. A Fan’s Charter is Urgently Needed
It was meant to be D Day yesterday when fans who had applied would find out if they would have the privilege of being ripped off either which way.
It was a mess all over with a system that couldn’t cope and kept crashing.
One of our SFU team saw that he got a ticket for Haiti £500, and Brazil £700.
But he needs a carer so he has to get 2 tickets and that is £2400 just for the briefs.
Today we’ve all heard things from fans like,
“No one has had any emails from Fifa”.
“SFA said emails would pop in, they haven’t”.
“Only 4000 tickets for Scotland is criminal”.
My pal David will be at all the matches but won’t buy any tickets.
I’ve said for weeks that football fans need to unite all over the world but especially across Uefa and demand a Fans Charter to avoid the excesses of the Blatters and Infantinos into the future.
We owe that to the future Tartan Army.
Cue: ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’,
“Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again, no, no
Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss”
2. Easy Money
Qatar provided free public transport for fans to the stadia.
That won’t happen in King Donald’s land.
Fans will be ripped off because they can be.
It’s not personal, just business.
And from every angle.
3. A Four Letter Word
‘Federation International de Football Association’ started life in 1904 and it’s fair to say bumbled along.
The two wars saw it impoverished and it was ‘The Match of the Century,’ in 1947 at Hampden Park that provided £36,000 to allow Fifa to realign their broken business model before the growing interest and revenues for the World Cups fixed.
The first thing today that hits you on their web site is not an apology for the system crashing or the embarrassment of having Jahnnie run wild and screwing the core stakeholders, the fans.
There is no mention of how it treats its fans to make the monies to keep Jahnnie and his cabal in power.
Or a hotline to allow employees or associations to ‘Whistle Blow’.
No it’s a current advert for corporate ticket sales.
(The kind of thing that’s way beyond the ordinary fan)
Fifa World Cup 2026
OFFICIAL HOSPITALITY
Experience the best of the World Cup with Premium Tickets, food and drink, lounge entry and more.
This year’s World Cup shows that there has to be a Fans Charter for all future Fifa and Uefa competitions.
Or we’ll get fooled and ripped off again.
This is what Fifa means to me this dreich morning.
1. Financing Infantino’s Failing Associates
Or how about?
2. Finagling Infantino’s Future Aspirations
When it should be
3. Fairness In Football Activities
Or
4. Fifa Is Fan Accountable
I’d say 1 and 2 hit the nail on the head.
4. Making Friends Wherever
I smiled when I heard the town of Providence Rhode Island, less than an hour’s drive from Boston has started it’s own Tartan Army group.
It makes sense to stay in places that welcome us with kindness rather than severe price escalations.
The stories I’ve heard about hotels and AIR B&B bookings cancelled and new prices set is horrendous and ubiquitous.
I also hear this week that Brazil plan to have their own special ‘Tartan’.
I’m sad to have been told that the team genuinely didn’t want to have kilts but two things.
They will have tartan ties for formal occasions.
And now my Andy Goram vintage, unworn kilt from 1998 is even more of a rarity and will deserve it’s place in the Hampden Museum, hopefully after a wee adventure or two over the pond.
5. Wanted Urgently Fan’s Charters
As I said above, the dreadful Fifa plans to rip off fans in America needs to be a one-off.
But we have micro fan issues north of the wall too..
I partly agree with the recent call to limit ticket prices for away fans but would also say, it’s logic is questionable.
The reality is football is a business made up of ambitious individual businesses.
My starting point would be to ensure fairness.
And that would mean ‘away fans’ pay no more than what ‘home fans’ would pay.
But not and never that all clubs have to charge the same.
Clubs have different costs to meet, most of all wages, and it seems reasonable that they should fix their own levels without heavy handed outside influence.
The SLO’s have a role here individually and collectively.
My personal, starting tenets in any Fans Charter would include:
Fair Pricing and don’t Rip Off Away Fans.
Good disabled facilities too.
This broad concept is on the discussion table between some of my team and some clubs right now and any input is welcome.
6. A Wee Fan Victory?
A closing transfer window saw Celtic allegedly turn down £25M from Forest for a player they had paid £11M for 18 months ago.
I’d say the board are running a little scared of the fans.
So a Pyrrhic Victory?
Maybe.
Our unremarkable Transfer Deadline Day of a few loans and no headlines says a lot about our game.
Yes, this year we feel it’s on the up, and may even have 3 teams vying for the title right up to the wire.
Great.
But our coefficient has tumbled and this will hurt because this horrible and plain wrong Uefa invention hurts the wee guys.
And we’re now a wee guy trapped in a Catch 22 where we don’t and probably can’t grow our own, and are not at the attractive end of the spectrum for outsiders.
Our teams are dominated by outsiders who are systematically lowering our place in the rankings, and nobody knows what to do or how to fix it.
Andy’s Sting Blog
Written by a fan who’s life has been enhanced by the game that has taught me so many things, good and bad about myself, about comradeship, teamwork, and the dark side that comes from short termism multiplied by power and money.
I genuinely fear for Scottish Football because we need to collectively change the structure and reset the game at all levels.
All the opinions I express are mine, but from your responses each week it seems I strike the chord more often than missing it.
I think Fifa have evolved into a monster and can’t see a happy outcome.
That said, history favours, and I agree that ‘Evolution beats revolution, every time’.
Thanks for reading.
Join the SFU to make our collective voice louder.
And as always feel free to write to me about anything in football or beyond
Andy’s Album of the Week
JSD Band : Travelling Days
This is what the late David Jones said about one of the folk rock pioneer groups back in ’72.
“I don’t think we’ve ever worked with a better group. I think the JSD Band are fantastic, I really do” – David Bowie, Kingston Polytechnic, May 6, 1972
The reason for this cherished old album is, I heard, by chance, the BBC Scotland Radio’s programme about the young Scottish musician of the year earlier this week.
The show took me back to my youth when it wasn’t cool to like ‘traditional music’.
I guess we collectively lumped the Alexander Brothers, Calum Kennedy and The White Heather Club into the ‘extreme and sad tartan kitsch file’.
So much so when I took albums to school to temporarily swap, I usually put the record in a “Round at Callum’s” sleeve so nobody would ask to borrow my The Who, or Deep Purple, Rory Gallagher, or Family albums.
The nonsense is I now know is traditional music is i everything I now like from Mark Knopfler to JJ Cale, to Macca, to Dylan, Capercaillie , The Chieftains and all their adventures and links including The Transatlantic Sessions.
A fusion of evolution that is flourishing and just saw record crowds at Glasgow’s wonderful Celtic Connections.
Looking back, the mostly unsung and short lived JSD were a little raw but so seminal.
The first time I came across the band was a concert/hoolie at Inverness’s Caley Hotel and the place was soon jumping.
Even the ‘aspirationally-cool’ guys realised the JSD Band were hitting the spot.
(I never quite made it to being seen as ‘cool’, maybe it was using mum’s Callum Kennedy sleeve?.
But I see now that there was nothing ever wrong with not just celebrating our music traditions, but moving them forward a bit and finding new directions.
Looking back Steeleye Span were professional but shallow creatively, Fairport were a great fusion of trad and talent but never quite pushing their limits, hence maybe their constant member churn.
But for a while JSD were so promising and on the money that John Peel, Whispering Bob and even Ziggy himself bought in big style alongside young Andy.
Their ‘Hayes and Harlington Blues’, featured by Annie Nightingale was probably the closest they came to flying, but they soon broke up.
My favourite tracks on Travelling Days are Galway Races, Sarah Jane, and Travelling Days.
And a wee secret.
After watching the band by accident for the first time I went out to copy the fiddler and bought a ‘grandad’ shirt that I wore for years, when trying to be uber cool.
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