Report: FIFA Officials Took Bribes in Qatar World Cup Bid

Who is that masked man?

Shocker!

As in all good conspiracies and corruption stories, as soon as it gets too hot in the kitchen, one of the scumbags involved in the crime starts singing like a canary. Case in point: various news outlets report today that a whistleblower is accusing FIFA executive committee members from Cameroon and the Ivory Coast of taking $1.5 million bribes to vote for the middle eastern nation's bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

This is the same World Cup the U.S. was thought to be a shoe-in to host. The same World Cup  being hosted by an ultra-conservative nation, that among other pleasantries, doesn't accept the existence of homosexuals. Good thing Sepp Blatter wants every region of the planet to host the biggest sporting event in the world; remember, he told gay folks to keep it zipped up during the tournament.

This stunk from the second rumors started flying that Qatar was the winner in the day or two leading up tot the announcement in December. Qatar was a bigger longshot than the Tampa Bay Lightning reaching the NHL semifinals this year. At least the Lightning have won the Stanley Cup before--or at least play in a professional league. Qatar barely has a top-flight professional league, much less a national team.

Thankfully we're more than 10 years from the World Cup and Qatar's sheikly finances can be adequately investigated and an audit trail can be established that will root out the evil-doers and clean up the World Cup. Yeah right.

How about we just start at the top by getting rid of Blatter now. He's the scum of scum, the lowest of the low; he capitulated even if he was ignorant of the goings-on. He's the shame of football and the poster child for sporting evil. He allowed this crooked charade to happen, molded it into a profitable enterprise and manipulated the result he wanted. He must go.

And then Qatar must go. There's no way soccer's showcase event can happen in that country, or any other that is so brazen about the means in which it gamed the system to host the World Cup. There needs to be an overhaul of FIFA and a process put in place where the debate and discussion over which nation will host the World Cup be public and transparent.

Here's hoping this scandal gets ugly--real ugly. To the point where it's lead story on CNN-ugly. Blatter must be exposed. The executive committee must be exposed. The holes in this process must be exposed. Call off or postpone the World Cup in Brazil and/or Russia if you have to, but do something.

And start with Sepp. Cut the head off, and the rest of the body will follow.