FIFA's latest corruption scandal exposed by nailing weakest links

As FIFA scandals go, this one is pretty special. We've seen an early morning raid in Zurich, a litany of indictments in New York and the world's media gripped by developments.

But to casual observers, this probably feels a bit familiar. Soccer's governing body is embroiled in yet another mess and the organization's president Sepp Blatter is facing repeated calls to step down. So, what makes this scandal so different? Well, it's the culmination of a long journey as American investigators finally go about attempting to dismantle the empires of jewel-bedecked wannabe-Caesars.

And therein lies the biggest issue for FIFA. As much as Blatter comes in for mass ridicule and contempt, he's remained in power for close to 20 years. This week, he will be elected to another term in charge. How? You'd be forgiven for thinking he lives his life according to the opening line of Kipling's If.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. . .”

If FIFA is eventually brought to its knees, it won't be because of Blatter. As a figurehead, he cops relentless criticism and shoulders the blame for the litany of bribes and kickbacks that have come to define his time as president. But as Wednesday’s events have proved, it's the small-time administrators, the boys about town, the local celebrities that always get caught. Corruption is at its worst at national levels.

CONCACAF, the confederation that oversees soccer in North and Central America – is intrinsically linked to a murky underworld of pay-offs, brown envelopes and other forms of fraudulent activity. Of the nine FIFA officials indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on allegations of racketeering and bribery offences, four have strong ties to CONCACAF while a fifth, Julio Rocha, served as the president of the Nicaraguan soccer federation.

But what the list of names also proves is that in these smaller markets, corruption is endemic and traditional. Jeffrey Webb, from Cayman Islands, is FIFA's vice-president and current head of CONCACAF, and was one of the seven arrested in Switzerland earlier on Wednesday. Seen as the golden child, he has enjoyed a remarkable ascent in FIFA circles in recent years with many tipping him as a possible successor to Blatter in the future. At 50, he should be far removed from the old-school shady tactics and dirty tricks that the organization has deployed for many years.

That appears to be not the case. In many ways, Webb appears to be the perfect embodiment of what FIFA represents – learn by imitation.

His predecessor at CONCACAF was the infamous Jack Warner, who was a long-time ally of Blatter's until four years ago. When Qatari presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hamamm offered him some hard-to-resist incentives, Warner switched allegiance and attempted to gain the support of representatives from the Caribbean soccer association by bribing them. Warner, and bin Hamamm were both suspended by FIFA, with Warner quickly resigning all of his soccer-related posts and leaving the organization for good to avoid further internal investigations. Unsurprisingly, it was announced Wednesday that Warner has also been indicted.

For the American-led investigation, it's been a smart if unspectacular strategy: chase down the weak links. It all began with Chuck Blazer, that larger-than-life character, the archetypal cock of the walk. Poor Chuck. Fueled by a passion for food, drink and downright odd excess, the 70-year-old ended up as a New York Daily News cover story, his picture carried below that most-memorable headline: “Soccer Rat: the inside story of how Chuck Blazer, ex-U.S. soccer executive and FIFA bigwig, became a confidential informant for the FBI”.

Blazer, who was general secretary of CONCACAF for over 20 years, was featured prominently in the statement published by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday. You see, Blazer decided against paying income tax for a decade. He had two Trump Tower apartments – one for him and one for his cats. Blazer came gift-wrapped to the authorities. And he sang like a bird. In November 2013, he pleaded guilty to 10 different charges that were leveled against him, including racketeering, wire fraud and tax evasion. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The weak links are everywhere across North, Central and South America.

Nicolas Leoz was also arrested in Zurich. A doddery 86-year-old, he was named by former Football Association (FA) chairman Lord Triesman as the FIFA executive committee member who asked for a knighthood in exchange for supporting England's 2018 World Cup bid. Later, it was claimed, one of his handlers returned to the FA with another proposition: if they named the FA Cup after Leoz, he'd give them the backing they wanted. In 2013, he resigned from FIFA on health grounds, just before a report revealed he'd accepted bribes in the 1990s. In a small town in Chile – Coquimbo – there had been a seaside road named after him. In 2013, the local council voted to remove the reference to him. The reason, the mayor said, was “the public outcry over allegations of the lack of integrity of this man”.

However, it's Webb's arrest that's most damning. For the other FIFA members charged, they rack up an average age of 71. If it was just the old guard at the centre of this, it would be so m

uch easier to flippantly dismiss the American investigation as nothing more than collateral damage on the road to reform. But Webb was supposedly leading that reform. He's the head of FIFA's internal audit committee and tasked with seeking out those bringing the organization into disrepute.

But, as ever, the attention falls on Blatter. As everybody else falls down, drowning in ego, he remains. As everybody else drops and surrenders, he stays standing. In a perverse way, he is an astonishing leader, his ability to not only survive but to remain largely unscathed is remarkable.

Mark Pieth, who was tasked with advising FIFA on reform and how to implement it, has always maintained that Blatter is a man motivated by power rather than money. He would've watched as Joao Havelange, president of the organization from 1974 to 1998, destroyed his legacy when he was found guilty of accepting kickbacks. In 2013, at the age of 96, he was humiliatingly forced to resign his honourary FIFA presidency.

And as he watches the little men stumble and collapse, Blatter is either thankful for having seen the light a long time ago or fearful for what's next.