Is our hemisphere’s soccer power broker a co-conspirator to some of sport’s most crooked individuals, or is he a laff-riot waiting to happen? Or perhaps a little bit of both? When Saturday Comes’ Ian Plenderleith reviews the online activity of Chuck Blazer and concludes, “tough nut Jack Warner™s the front man, the bad cop, and you know what that makes cheery Chuck.”
Blazer loves to come across as the cheerful, chubby clown by posting pictures of himself in ridiculous Halloween get-up, or wearing a Santa hat. When you laugh at yourself, the joke™s on those who laugh at you. And, as he told Sports Business Journal earlier this year, when he reads or hears negative things about himself “ such as the time during FIFA™s court case with Mastercard in 2006 when a New York judge described his testimony as œfabricated and lacking credibility “ œI shrug at it. When you™ve got an apartment in Trump Tower and you™re travelling first class around the world, you™re pretty much untouchable. Why care what others think?
No wonder Chuck fits in at FIFA “ shrugging off allegations of corruption and bribery has been its specialty for the past 20 years. The body is accountable to no one, and it mixes with eager politicians at the highest level. Any member of England™s 2018 World Cup bid committee still baffled as to why Chuck failed to give them a vote need only check out his blog entry for November 25, where he lovingly details a trip to Moscow for a star-struck encounter with Russian president Vladimir Putin. After being told by Putin he looked like Karl Marx, and getting a high-five, there followed œa half hour exchange of wit, charm and effective communications. Vlad then emailed Chuck some pictures of him helping a sick polar bear to put on his blog. Chuck happily obliged his new œfriend.