It's been in the news a while now and has even provided a few official scapegoats being charged, but to what end is this investigation trying to reach? 

 For those not interested in actual football, the summation of this investigation lies in the corrupt FIFA organization and the bribery/racketeering involved with winning the bids for the next 2 World Cups. This first broke after December of 2014 when Qatar and Russia "won" bids for the 2022 and 2018 World Cups. The resulting investigation, led by the U.S., found 14 people indicted on corruption charges with 9 being senior FIFA officials. Interpol has stepped in with arrest warrants for 5 of these officials as well.

 Qatar and Russia are at the center of the investigation; however, it reaches as far back as the 1998 and 2010 World Cups in France and Africa. If Either Qatar or Russia is found guilty of bribery they could potentially lose their bids. What FIFA has going against is Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA executive official who has freely admitted they accepted bribes for the previously mentioned World Cup bids. The charges involve a total of $150 million in bribes for bids on multiple world Cups. Africa and Trinidad-Tobago were said to have given $10 million each for the 2010 World Cup.

 In my opinion there is no question of bribery from either country as it’s been an ongoing situation. Qatar has a GNP of $218 billion, while Russia has serious economic concerns and would benefit greatly from a World Cup.

  Will evidence be found? There have been wire transfers discovered from the 2008 bids showing $10 million going to CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) but nothing else has been released. If anything is found involving Qatar or Russia they need to lose the rights to their bids. A precedent needs to be set going forward, or nothing will change within the organization. In my opinion, much like corrupt politicians, people will be indicted and wrists will be slapped and it will be forgotten. The FIFA President (Sepp Blatter) will be stepping down after this year with a new one being voted on in February of 2016. With a new President comes new hope, but votes count and how easily can a vote be bought? Change always starts at the top but it also has to go through the rest of the committee and that may be a larger part of the problem. An actual solution to the issue is as large as the investigation itself. This is a 209-person committee involving multiple countries across the globe. You can’t exactly fire everyone and start from the ground up. Clearly self-policing hasn’t been an option, but an outsourced, privatized organization could be used to handle the bids and reviews of potential countries.

 There’s no clear timeline for this investigation so it could be well into next year before we found out anything solid. Regardless, Qatar and Russia continue to ready their countries for the international spectacle known as the World Cup, oddly, as we prepare for the spectacle known as the Presidential election.

 Irony at its very best if I must say.

~ The Bartender