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As God sits ensconced in majesty on his throne in Heaven, he watches over the affairs of men. Loving and compassionate as he is, he does not share his glory with mortals.

And so when men begin to play God, his anger is stirred and he visits his wrath upon them. For some time now, Sepp Blatter and his lieutenants at FIFA have been acting as if the world belonged to them alone.

The former footballer from Switzerland drunk on the influence conferred on his him by virtue of his leading the monopoly that FIFA has become, has been throwing his weight around lately.

Like a bully, he has taken to threatening member nations at the slightest opportunity as if FIFA were a global overlord charged with the responsibility of whipping errant nations into line. Our dear country, Nigeria has become his hapless victim. Goaded on by our shady and unpatriotic compatriots, Blatter has been poking a finger into our eyes.

In his arrogance, Chinua Achebe’s advice that “those whose palm kernels have been cracked for them by benevolent spirits should not forget to be humble”, has been lost on him. And so like we have been told again and again, pride goes before a fall.

On Sunday, August 17, Blatter and his henchmen at the Glass House in Zurich were brought down to earth from their castled height in Switzerland.

That day, news broke that two of his executive committee members, Amos Adamu (the man known in Nigeria as Mr Fix it) and Reynald Tenarii demanded money from Sunday Times of London reporters who posed as lobbyists for American interests in the 2018 World Cup bid before the Americans pulled out of the race. Both men were alleged to have asked for different sums of money to guarantee their votes. A video footage released showed Adamu in negotiation with the reporters.

For FIFA, an organisation with a huge question mark hanging over its credibility, it was as we would say in Nigerian parlance, “bad market”.

Since the incident, the normally loquacious and belligerent Blatter has become thoroughly chastened. On Wednesday when he addressed a press conference after the ethics committee announced the suspension of Adamu and Tenarii, Blatter looked his full 74 years of age. He looked a frail and broken old man.

The allegation about the FIFA officials has not come as a shock to me. While both men remain innocent until investigation into their matter has run its full course, there’s a lot to be said for the way FIFA does business.

Encouraging graft

It seems to me from the way the whole bid process is structured that FIFA has wittingly or unwittingly encouraged its members to engage in unseemly conduct. In the first place, it beats my imagination why the football body is choosing host countries for World Cups that are eight and twelve years removed from now. Why the hurry? The 2010 World Cup just ended in South Africa and the next one in Brazil is a full three years away; so why are Blatter and his men opening up bids for 2108 and 2022?

Is it because Blatter suspects that if he gets a next term, which would expire sometime around 2015, he is unlikely to make a case for another term and so must make provision for his retirement and those of his ageing lieutenants?

What has happened should be act as reality check for Blatter. As he goes about seeking ways to mitigate the effect of the allegations, he must bear in mind that the world, which has become weary of the shenanigans of FIFA officials and which remains mindful of past cases of allegations of acts corruption against past and current executive committee members, expects that Adamu and Tenarii should face the full wrath of the law if found guilty. That is the only way he can ever hope to begin to regain the confidence of the football community around the world. For if truth be told, people are tired of FIFA’s way of doing business. They demand transparency, which unfortunately, the glass house in Zurich has not been able to provide.

Anything less, will only serve to further confirm the widely held view that the world football governing body is nothing but a cult of individuals sworn to protect their personal interests to the detriment of the beautiful game.