After the sweet glow of schadenfreude at yesterday's news wore off, I found myself facing an uncomfortable question: for all my ire, what exactly am I asserting is the problem with FIFA's corruption? FIFA has essentially one product to sell, a quadrennial soccer tournament that just happens to be the most popular sporting event in the world. So FIFA insiders are using their power to enrich themselves. So what?
It's funny: when I think of it that way, I have a hard time answering. What's the problem I see here? Well, it's repulsive. Okay, and?
I should say that I'm not suggesting that FIFA's corruption is getting in the way of the quality of their product. No one is claiming that FIFA's corruption extends into the match-fixing that's believed to be so rampant in high-level soccer. FIFA executives enrich themselves on the back of the quality of their product. Match-fixing can only lessen that quality. These men are brazen but they aren't stupid.
The 2014 World Cup was a terrific spectacle. FIFA may be corrupt but they certainly deliver.
If I can't assert a harm greater than, "Those idiots awarded the World Cup to Qatar, which is a stupid place for it to be," then either I need to clarify my thinking or else shut the hell up.