If you want to understand the corruption and hubris that both riddles and smothers FIFA and the world game you need to know just one word. Qatar.
That Qatar became the first Arab country to be awarded the World Cup finals demonstrates emphatically that decisions within FIFA, soccer's governing body, are often borne out of corruption rather than logic and reality.
The World Cup is traditionally played in the middle of the year when the world's major leagues take a break. That is summer in Qatar and its climate then is so hostile - average temperature is 41 degrees and often hits 50 - it should have been unthinkable that the country be awarded the 2022 tournament.
Ultimately it was. At least at that time of year. Three months ago FIFA's executive committee ruled that the Qatar tournament would be held in November and December of 2022 with the final slotted for December 18. The length of the tournament will also be shortened, possibly to a spread of 28 days.
When Qatar put together its bid back in 2010 it knew it had a problem with summer's suffocating heat and humidity. So bid organisers maintained it would have breakthrough technology able to drop the temperature in stadiums by as many as 20 degrees. Oh, really?
Any decision to award Qatar the 2022 finals could not be reached by legitimate means. Like logic. Or player and spectator welfare. FIFA could only end up with Qatar as host if votes had been bought. The World Cup is two things. The showcase of the most popular sport in the world and the perfect promotional tool. It is a resource that cannot be wasted. Or indulged with.
Last week's arrest of seven past and present FIFA officials for fraud only confirmed what the Qatar voted indicated. The FBI and Swiss police continue to investigate corruption within FIFA and the legality of the voting process that presented Qatar with the 2022 final.
So when Sepp Blatter was re-elected as president yet again last Friday he had a massive problem irrespective of whether he was included in the FBI investigation. You did not need to be a soccer insider, a fan or even an observer with barely half-an-eye on the sport to realise Blatter could not continue as president. Good governance said he had to resign because policing authorities were delving into FIFA's protocols and practices in play during Blatter's reign. And he had been numero uno for 17 years.
Following his re-election Blatter was made to look foolish in a news conference. His integrity, and FIFA's too, were constantly and appropriately challenged. He looked a man with a title but no dignity. A reputation might survive ridicule but not contempt as well.
Of course, Blatter's standing has been attacked before and he has always survived. But it has never been confronted with such authority. Questions whizzed at him off the back of two FIFA vice-presidents arrested for fraud two days before the election. Another 16 senior football executives have also been charged.
Top FIFA administrators and representatives, shrouded in bed sheets, and led out of a luxury hotel by police is not an image that is easy to defend.
Why Blatter stood down as president overnight remains unclear. It has been reported the FBI is closing in on Blatter. He might have been talked out of continuing as president by his inner circle. Either way his position had become untenable even for a FIFA official.
While everything about him was being chopped down, Blatter still retained a sense of the ridiculous. He said that leaving the presidency that he had just retained would allow him to fully throw himself into reforming FIFA.
There is a push for Blatter to step away immediately and to override the FIFA regulations that demand four months notice before another election can take place.
To vote again immediately changes nothing. The same people and practices that kept Blatter in power for 17 years would still be in place when a revolution is required.
A minimum four months, possibly six, give an independent investigative team just enough time and scope to review governance within FIFA and present a report before the next president takes power. To not take this opportunity - the first in nearly two decades - to transform FIFA would be as immoral as it is reckless.
Reform from within FIFA cannot be trusted. It is too late for that; about 17 years too late. Reform, review and recommendations must come from an independent body if FIFA is to be considered an honourable body again.
To think one word alerted the world. Qatar.
