user: Q: FIFA - Blatter’s Reign Goes On

Sepp Blatter will remain President of FIFA. Earlier today, at FIFA’s congress in Zurich, Switzerland, Blatter was re-elected for a fifth time defeating Prince Ali of Jordan, the only other candidate on the ballot. FIFA now enters a period of uncertainty.

The 79-year old Blatter, in a rambling acceptance speech, invoked God, beach soccer and said “I’m not perfect. Trust and confidence. Let’s Go FIFA!”

What can we expect? The US Dept. of Justice prosecution of FIFA executives and its continuing investigation is set to possibly reveal more as to the extent of corruption within the organization. Pressure will continue to build on FIFA for change from critics in the press, European and US soccer, and certain other soccer associations around the world.

World Cup qualification for Russia 2018 begins next year in Europe and the Americas. A difficult time ahead for countries adamantly opposed to Blatter’s FIFA? England’s top soccer official supported the idea of a boycott if UEFA, Europe’s governing body, decided on such a path. This seems unlikely as of now.

Reforming FIFA’s system of patronage established in decades of practice that involve backroom deals, power politics and forces connected to geopolitical persuasions will be a huge task. The organization’s wealth is robust. Those benefiting at the trough will be unlikely to wish for reform when the largesse is so generous.

Some thoughts — Do the consumers of soccer have a responsibility? Qatar, the venue for the 2022 World Cup: workers are dying building the infrastructure for the tournament. What is the price for our enjoyment of watching World Cup soccer, a sport, a leisure activity? A quote by Bill Shankly, a famous Scottish soccer coach, and oft used by soccer fans everywhere, paraphrased as “Life and death. Soccer is more important than that.” It could be a slogan for Qatar 2022.

The concentration of wealth in elite club soccer exposing the money gap between the haves and have nots, and not just in bank accounts but imbalance in competition with the same few clubs dominating the world’s top leagues, has shifted the sport in the direction of being nothing more than an expensive talent show. Obviously, top professional football is a commodity to be sold with the associated trim of marketing desire branded to the experience. Today’s soccer project is all about consumption. Endless television coverage, and its global reach, secures this. Whether this is bad or not lies with the individual’s viewpoint. Some believe it is, many don’t. Football is fun. Does it matter how it is delivered and how it is funded?

Comedian John Oliver struck poignancy with his seriously funny monologue delivered before the World Cup in Brazil last year. Watch it here. The sausage principle, as he said.
What are the most important parts of this text?

A: Sepp Blatter will remain President of FIFA. Earlier today, at FIFA's congress in Zurich, Switzerland, Blatter was re-elected for a fifth time defeating Prince Ali of Jordan, the only other candidate on the ballot. FIFA now enters a period of uncertainty.

The 79-year old Blatter, in a ram


Q: The New York Times

But special teams proved to be the Wings’ downfall. Staal took a pass from Max Talbot, veered around defenseman Brian Rafalski, who had a dreadful game, and scored shorthanded to tie the game at 2-2.

“We had the game going pretty good,” Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock said. “The crowd was pretty quiet, we were playing all right. Then our power play hurt us for sure, and sucked the life out of us.”

Staal, who had been nearly invisible in the series, saw his chance when he got hold of the puck. “I saw Lidstrom and Rafalski both kind of flat-footed, and I just buried my head, went for it and kind of snuck it in,” he said.

Two minutes later, Malkin stole the puck from defenseman Brett Lebda to start a two-on-one break, setting up Sidney Crosby’s first goal of the series and making the score 3-2.

Less than four minutes later, Henrik Zetterberg was beaten to a loose puck by Chris Kunitz, who passed to Crosby, who passed to Tyler Kennedy, who finished the tic-tac-toe play — all diagonals — at 14:12 by directing the puck past the beleaguered goalie Chris Osgood and the Wings never really recovered.

Malkin, the front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player, drew a penalty in the game’s second minute and opened the scoring on the power play at 2:39. He stole the puck from Rafalski and buried a rebound of a Staal shot for his 14th goal of the playoffs.

It was Pittsburgh’s fourth power-play goal of a series, in which they have had only nine manpower advantages. The Red Wings have scored only once in 10 tries, and have surrendered a shorthanded goal as well.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was sharp in the first period, in which the Wings outshot the Pens by 19-11. He made saves through screens and on close-in shots and at one point he made four stops in 11 seconds.

Fleury, the object of doubt and derision after Games 1 and 2, turned aside 37 shots. Osgood stopped 27.

Malkin leads the playoffs in scoring with 35 points in 21 games and leads the Cup final with 2 goals and 5 assists. He is seeking to become the first player to finish atop both the regular-season and postseason scoring lists since Mario Lemieux in 1991-2.

Malkin topped the Penguins with six shots and tied for the team lead with five hits.

Evgeni Malkin earned a point on each of the Penguins’ first five goals of the series, a streak that ended when Max Talbot scored into an empty net without Malkin’s help in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday. He became only the second player to accomplish the feat in the finals, after Henri Richard against Toronto in 1960. ... Malkin leads the playoffs in scoring with 35 points in 21 games and leads the Cup final with 2 goals and 5 assists. He is seeking to become the first player to finish atop both the regular-season and post-season scoring parades since Mario Lemieux in 1991-92. ... The Red Wings dressed the four-time Stanley Cup winner Kris Draper, but he saw limited playing time. To make room for him, they sat out Justin Abdelkader, the rookie who scored a goal in each of the first two games.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B15 of the New York edition with the headline: This Year, Pittsburgh Turns Tide In Game 4. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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A:

assistant: Evgeni Malkin, who has established himself as the playoffs’ most valuable player, carried the Penguins to a victory over the Red Wings, leveling the Stanley Cup finals at two games apiece.