On the face it, Sepp Blatter and his so-called gangs at FIFA are guilty of many wrongdoings over the years including institutionalized corruption, abuse of power and lack of general transparency in the affairs of the global football governing body. But beneath this sufficient cover is a complicated and dangerous web of geopolitics and US and European imperialism being transplanted into FIFA and world soccer. Hitherto, FIFA was the only voice of reason and comfort in the turbulent global politics and diplomacy.

Sepp Blatter and his advisers should or ought to have known better that as a leader of an international institution, you do not play rough games with the mighty Americans, the sole super-power and the strongest and greatest Empire on earth at the moment. He should have known that cozying up to Russia and President Putin in this torrid moment would likely attract the ire of the United States and its Western partners. Currently, Russia is under US and Western sanctions due to its annexation of Crimea and the ongoing war with Ukraine and there have been consistent diplomatic, political and financial maneuverings to isolate Russia and its President. Therefore, the US and its European allies saw the decision by Blatter to award the 2018 world cup to Russia as thumbing his nose at them. Apart from the direct financial benefits to Russia, hosting the World cup would negate all efforts at blackening the international image and brand of Russia and Mr. Putin, given the media and world attention that the host would enjoy.

The failure of the US to win the 2022 world cup bid aggravated the grievance of the superpower against FIFA and its boss.

Despite the controversies of the 2018 and 2022 bid, Mr.Blatter has been unapologetic, vowing to stick to the age-old tradition of divorcing soccer from any form of politics, national or international.

However well-intentioned that position might have been, the now embattled President of FIFA should have been measured in his approach and adopted some tricks in realpolitik to stave off the current embarrassing situation he has found himself in.

He and his advisers ought to have known that the US and its partners directly or indirectly control almost all the major international organizations including the UN, the IMF and the World Bank, the WTO, the IAEA, the ECBand many others. With this comes the control of world diplomacy, trade, finance, media and security. There is therefore no wonder that immediately after the arrest of the now indicted FIFA officials, some of the major corporate sponsors of the world soccer governing body, such as Visa, Coca-Cola, and Adidas started voicing concern about the ongoing development. 

So, from the onset, Blatter should have known that he could run but he could not hide anywhere on the surface of the earth.The US is capable of going at any length to get at him and they know how to do it with impeccable finesse.

If he had been pragmatic from the beginning, perhaps things would not have degenerated to this level.

However, now that the US and its allies seem to be getting their way at FIFA with the eventual resignation of SeppBlatter, it is hoped that, we would not see the soccer governing body transformed into another UN or IMF/World Bank, where veto power and other domineering tendencies have turned developing countries into mere spectators in the international scene.

The GFA President, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi was apt for raising concerns about what is going on regarding the apparent intimidation at FIFA by the US and Swiss security agencies.

Soccer should remain a game that unites all humanity and provides the needed succor away from the vagaries of global politics and diplomacy, and that should be clear to every individual, organizations and nations including the US and its European friends.

The current FBI investigations into the affairs of FIFA should not be a smokescreen to implant stooges at FIFA who would be at the beck and call of the mighty and the powerful in the globe.

I admire the silence of President Obama in operations of this nature. Since he took over as the President of US some seven years ago he has sought to lead from behind in some of these global controversial issues, having in mind the implications to his image as someone who promised to use the US soft power or the power of diplomacy to resolve global crisis instead of the rush to the use of the military, when he was prosecuting his campaign for the White House. We all admired his calm and peaceful nature, bearing in mind that the US Empire was built and sustained on militarism and therefore there is very little he could do to change that as an individual, no matter his naïveté or idealism on peace. 

Well, the world is still not as peaceful as we all envisaged, but at least is better than where it was when George W. Bush was at the White House.