Very few people would have ever expected to type the names of the FIFA President, the former CONCACAF President, the current CONCACAF President/FIFA Vice-President and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the same sentence as the word corruption. Yes, we all expected to type Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb and corruption together, but no one expected to add Ms. Lynch into the equation. That is, no one thought about it until 11:30 PM ET Tuesday night.

What was an absolutely insane late Tuesday night/Wednesday began for this writer just before going to bed, when news of the arrests broke in the New York Times. After assuring that it would be covered, he fell asleep and awoke to discover that more than a dozen FIFA executives, former executives and marketing personnel had been arrested in connection with a US Department of Justice investigation into FIFA's rampant corruption. It became apparent that not only would this be the biggest news story of the day, or of the week, or of the month. No, this is the biggest sports news story of the year.

This is far from the first time that FIFA has been accused of corruption. Ever since the fateful day in December of 2010 when FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, the organization has reeked of the stench of corruption. However, the organization has always denied it vehemently, and in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary they have been allowed to continue operating in the same manner. 

A former member of the Qatari bid committee who came forward alleging she had seen votes bought couldn't stem the tide. Dogged reporting from the Sunday Times based out of London which documented a vast network of bribery in the course of both bids could not stem the tide. A stunning expose conducted by ESPN into the inhumane use of migrant workers in Qatar could not stem the tide. 

Yet, finally, the law prevailed. When US Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the details of the "World Cup of Fraud", the world rejoiced. Finally, as Richard Weber, chief investigator of the IRS criminal investigations unit stated, "This is really the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing FIFA a red card."

The indictments run deep into FIFA, as nine current or former executives have been arrested and face extradition to the US, where they will face prosecution. However, nowhere is the name of Sepp Blatter mentioned. When asked about it at her press conference Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Lynch would not comment on the FIFA President while Kelly Curies, the acting US attorney for the state of New York, did say that this is not the end of the investigation, but just the beginning.

It is that sentiment, not just the arrests, which has the world rejoicing. It comes as a shock to no one that FIFA is corrupt. That has been proven before. FIFA has also ducked and dodged its way around corruption charges before. But they have never faced an enemy as formidable as the US Department of Justice. That name alone strikes fear into the heart of organized crime rings around the world, and that is exactly how the DoJ is treating FIFA: as organized crime.

They will not stop until this investigation, which is already three years old, finds and eradicates as much corruption within FIFA as it can. They will not settle for just lopping off a branch; no, they will cut right to the core. This is the greatest chance the world has had of genuine reform within FIFA since before Blatter was President, before the election of 1998. 

Today reminded this writer of the early 1970s, when the Washington Post was investigating President Richard Nixon's involvement in the burglary at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. Gradually, Nixon's involvement in the burglary became apparent. However, it was a process. The Post dug and dug and dug into his story, and various members of Nixon's inner circle fell one by one, before finally the President tripped and fell into his own web of lies and deception. On Wednesday, large swathes of Blatter's inner cycle fell into their own pit of rot and corruption, a trap entirely of their own making. At the moment, it seems only a matter of time until Blatter joins them.