The FBI director, James Comey, commenting on the arrests in Zurich yesterday of senior Fifa officials, identified rampant, systemic and deep-rooted corruption in the federation<\/b>. \u201cUndisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa,\u201d\u009d he said. The raids by both the American and Swiss authorities were cynically welcomed by Mr Blatter\u2019s team as a sign that it was cleaning up its act.<\/p>\n
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, as our sister paper The Sunday Times has diligently exposed, was secured by the rigging and purchase of votes. Despite clear evidence of wrongdoing, Qatar has held on to the cup. An investigation by Fifa\u2019s ethics committee, a body created by Mr Blatter to soothe the many doubts about federation practices, was not published in full to spare the leadership embarrassment. On an almost daily basis, the absurdity of Qatar hosting the cup becomes apparent, from its treatment of construction workers to the extraordinary decision to switch the games to the winter in the midst of the European club season.<\/p>\n
The Blatter years have been distinguished by a Machiavellian manipulation of the executive committee and of the broader football voting community<\/b>.<\/p>\n