Allegations that corruption riddles the upper echelons of international soccer governance have been made for years by journalists and some within the sport. None has stuck in a significant way, but none carried the legal weight of the Department of Justice indictments announced Wednesday after a lengthy investigation by the FBI and IRS.
A sensible person would think the DOJ bill of particulars covering major FIFA officials over 24 years and $151 million of wrongdoing would be enough to bring down Sepp Blatter, who has presided over this cesspool since 1998 and has been expected to be elected to a fifth term Friday.
Blatter, 79, was not named in the indictments as the cesspool ran onto the lawn of a luxury Zurich, Switzerland hotel where several of those charged were arrested Wednesday.
"I’m not able to comment further on Mr. Blatter’s status," Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney general, said at a Wednesday press conference in Brooklyn.
At best, Blatter turned a blind eye to the corruption, which mainly involved bribes to soccer officials for commercial rights attached to tournaments in the Americas but that the DOJ alleges also involved his election to a fourth term and the award of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa.
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