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ARGENTINE legend Diego Maradona last week described Fifa president Sepp Blatter as a “rat” presiding over a corrupt mafia and his words are proving prophetically true following sensational events which unfolded at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich this week.The bribe and corruption scandal which has rocked world football governing body will have far reaching consequences for the beautiful game. Followed by millions across the globe, the game of football has become a multi-billion dollar industry through television rights, marketing and endorsement deals and various other revenue streams tapping into the popularity of football and as such chances were high that greedy officials would always seek to profit from the largesse pouring into the industry.

Murmurs of bribery, racketeering and corruption have long been whispered along Fifa corridors but no conclusive proof had been proffered until the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations conducted an investigation that yielded solid evidence of impropriety among Fifa elites.

This week, the US indicted 14 current and former Fifa executives on charges of bribery, racketeering and money-laundering involving tens of millions of dollars over 24 years since 1991, blighting the image of the game and raising questions about the suitability of the current Fifa leadership. The charge sheet includes allegations of bribes to influence the outcome of bids to stage football tournaments such as the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2016 Copa America in the US.

The South African government promised to pay $10 million to former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and his co-conspirators in exchange for winning the right to host the tournament, the FBI indictment alleges. South African officials yesterday dismissed the allegations saying there had been a “clean audit report” at the end of the World Cup. Warner is among those indicted.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the individuals indicted had “corrupted the business of world-wide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves,” describing the alleged scheme as “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” in the US and abroad.

In a sweeping, 161-page indictment that lists 25 co-conspirators in addition to the 14 named defendants, prosecutors describe a wide-ranging scheme that spanned decades involving increasingly large payments as football grew more commercially valuable in South America and the US.

The US Justice Department said those involved in the scheme included soccer officials, sports media and marketing company executives, and other intermediaries who “laundered illicit payments.” The US is seeking the extradition of the seven Fifa officials arrested in Zurich.

Six of the seven are opposing their extradition to the US, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said. Swiss authorities said they opened a separate criminal probe related specifically to the selection of Russia and Qatar as future World Cup hosts. The scandal hit Fifa as the organisation was due to hold its Congress where president Blatter was seeking re-election for a fifth term against challenger Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.

Opening the second day of the congress, Blatter, who has been called on to quit but has already made clear he is not responsible for the scandal and wants to combat corruption, told delegates Fifa faced “troubled times”. “Events have thrown a shadow across Fifa and congress. Let’s try to lift that shadow,” he said. Blatter, in office for 17 years, enjoys strong support in Asia, the Americas and Africa and was tipped to win another four-year term.

Africa was solidly behind Blatter with the president of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, telling the BBC he was 100 percent convinced Blatter would win, taking “a minimum” of 50 of the 54 African votes. “We know our friends from Asia, our friends from Latin America, so I can assure you it’s going to be a good victory for him.” We are appalled by the rot in Fifa and urge those fingered in the corruption to own up and confess their sins so that the game of football can be cleansed of the vice.

We are equally disgusted by insinuations that Africa has been complicit in the shenanigans of corrupt Fifa officials and hope the ongoing indictments will net the culprits before they further dent the image of the game on the continent. We sincerely hope that allegations that South African officials paid a bribe to land the 2010 World Cup are not true because if they are, they will surely sully the legacy of the first ever world football extravaganza held on the continent.

The future of football and the growth of the game are now dependent on the outcome of the current indictments and investigations and we hope all bad apples will be weeded out. The current exposes are also an indictment on leadership of Blatter whose own role in the scandal will now be brought into sharp question.