It finally happened. No, not Sepp Blatter’s re-election as President of FIFA for the fifth term. FIFA has been found out as the corrupt organisation we already knew it was. The arrests made on 27th May strike right at the very heart of football’s governing body. The current Vice President Jeffrey Webb, the executive committee bound Edwardo Li, the President of Conmebol Eugenion Figueredo as well as FIFA’s development officer Julio Rocha are just three of the fourteen big names to be indicted for “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption. Expect more names to follow.

Sepp Blatter, 79, was not one of the names on the United States' Wanted list. Yet, having led an organisation riddled with corruption that the US backdates twenty years, his reputation – already tarnished – is crumbling along with the organisation he oversees. His position is virtually untenable.

Friday’s presidential election went ahead as previously planned according to FIFA, despite widespread demands for its postponement. Such opposition even came from European football’s governing body, UEFA, whose president Michel Platini refused to rule out a boycott of FIFA in the event of Blatter’s re-election. These demands for immediate reform, echoed by sponsors such as McDonalds and Adidas, who, along with many other big name associates, carry such great influence thanks to their financial muscle, have potentially huge consequences for FIFA.

Should, hypothetically speaking of course, UEFA take the unprecedented step of boycotting the Presidential election, FIFA’s very legitimacy could be at stake. It could bring the organisation to its knees.

The election has gone ahead but whether UEFA would be bold enough to walk out on FIFA remains to be seen. Blatter claims to have resolved the dispute with Platini, though this of course must be taken with a pinch of salt: "I forgive everyone but I don't forget. We cannot live without Uefa and Uefa cannot live without us." However, what is certainly clear is that the vigorous reforms that we have all been screaming for will be forced onto the table, especially considering that the hitherto unforeseeable prospect of a sponsorship boycott is now a very real one. It will be even more difficult for FIFA to ignore the calls for change.

But far-reaching reforms could potentially have dramatic ramifications, not just for football, but also geopolitically. Current ongoing investigations by Swiss authorities into the bidding processes of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, could, and most probably will, discover examples of foul play. If this is the case, and there is little reason to think otherwise, then the possibility of a re-vote, and the tournaments awarded elsewhere, could very well cause FIFA some crippling long-term headaches. 

Corruption allegations have long been made against these two bids from the moment they were awarded the right to host the tournament. It is almost unfathomable how this could happen to a sport dedicated to inclusivity, proudly stating that no matter what skin colour, gender, nationality or sexuality, everyone has the right to play. Football is for everyone. Yet these World Cups were awarded to two nations with somewhat questionable human rights records.

Both the Russian and Qatari governments boast homophobic legislation. Russia is still riddled with a well-documented racism problem, seeing even their league champions Zenit St Petersburg possess a leading supporters group who demand that their players are white. Questions continue to be raised over Qatar’s treatment of workers, where their ‘khalifa’ system effectively treats them as slaves. How the gulf state, where temperatures regularly near the 50 degrees mark, won the right to host an outdoor summer football event is beyond rational comprehension. The subsequent farcical attempts to squeeze the tournament into a winter slot, disrupting football leagues worldwide, screams of corruption. Football is for everyone, FIFA have long proclaimed. More likely, it is for those that are willing to pay. If the historic 2010 tournament held in South Africa, as has been alleged, saw bribes of up to $10 million dollars find their way into official’s pockets, then there is little reason to doubt that investigations into these two bidding processes will uncover similar results.

But any US led investigation into a Russian government supported World Cup bid will not be straightforward. Nor would taking the tournament away from Russia. FIFA, inadvertently through corruption, may just have walked into the one thing it has always tried to steer football away from: politics.

FIFA has long seen itself as creating football as a politics-free zone. It has often led the way with regards to international recognition – the inclusion of Palestine in International football has been hailed as pioneering. It has clamped down harshly on any fixtures potentially harbouring inter-nation hostility, such as the Serbia – Albania fiasco of last year, which saw sanctions for both nations and crowd stadium bans for Serbia. Football has long been portrayed as a force for good on the international stage. Now, FIFA may well have dragged football into one of the biggest geopolitical crises of the past century.

A United States led investigation is going to cause difficulty. Already, Russia have condemned their involvement, calling on the United States to “stop attempts to make justice far beyond its borders”. Indeed, Putin has condemned the FBI’s arrest of high-ranking officials as an illicit interference in order to prevent Blatter’s re-election : “This is yet another blatant attempt [by the United States] to extend its jurisdiction to other states.” Is it possible the US investigation is motivated by one-upmanship? After President Putin’s prized Winter Olympics in Sochi were overshadowed by the Ukraine Crisis, are the United States looking to do the same again with a Russian World Cup?

Russia will not see allegations of corruption made against them in any other terms. For football, the consequences could be dire. The beautiful game, described as “the world’s one true religion”, one of the gels that keeps humanity together by espousing ideals of equality, fairness and cooperation, could potentially find itself divided. Should FIFA call for a revote, or even strip Russia of the tournament, it would not be surprising should they then choose to boycott the 2018 event, encouraging their allies to do likewise. Conversely, should FIFA refuse to take any action, a Western boycott is equally plausible. It could very well see a repeat of the Moscow and then Los Angeles Olympics in 1980 and 1984 respectively. Politics could be about to rear its ugly head in football.

All of this is of course hypothetical. The indictments have only just been released, the arrests newly made. The future of FIFA at this very moment is uncertain. From the perspective of football lovers such as myself, the bringing to justice of those ruining our sport is something we have all been longing for. Thanks to these investigations, we all now have the chance to reclaim what is our game, out of the hands of the rich corporates and corrupt officials.

But what we cannot direct is the impact of what FIFA has allowed to happen in the past. Preparing for a World Cup is expensive business. To take that right away will have huge implications, political, as well as financial.

FIFA’s ghastly corrupt centre has been uncovered and is now facing the realisation that it has to change. But the ramifications may well extend far beyond its headquarters in Zurich. Political encroachment will bring the game into disrepute, and it’s a very real prospect.

FIFA’s disease has scarred football. And it now increasingly appears that those wounds may well be very difficult to heal.