First, sleaze and bribery are by no means exclusive to Fifa. Mr Blatter and his organisation's questionable governance practices are symptoms of the malaise rather than the cause. Corruption has been endemic in South America and Europe, the two epicentres of the sport. This year it's the bribes-for-World Cup venues controversy. In 2013-14, it was a massive betting ring centred on English football. Italian football has been a repeat offender; 2006, the year it won the World Cup, saw three star-studded Serie A clubs - Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio - relegated for a match-fixing scandal and a fourth, A C Milan, docked 15 points. Fifa's growing riches from its vigorous promotion of the sport - it earned $4.8 billion from the 2014 World Cup - have only stoked this general avarice. Nor is football an outlier. With some exceptions (in particular, tennis, badminton and rugby), sports has always been one of the world's most corrupt industries. It is perhaps to be expected in an industry in which assets - the players - depreciate rapidly and governing bodies operate on unfettered commercial principles but prefer to apply opaque non-profit rules when it comes to accounting practices - in this BCCI is as good an example as Fifa. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation's efforts may have a cathartic effect, but no experienced observer will be holding his or her breath.
The second point concerns the emerging polarisation within the sport. Commentators suggest that the one association-one vote pattern in Fifa's governing body gives smaller countries outside the footballing mainstream disproportionate clout. Implicit in this is the suggestion that Fifa's handouts to these countries via development funds have a direct correlation with corruption. By extension, it is these countries that allegedly played a role in accepting bribes for voting for Russia and Qatar as hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Well, members of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, the associations whose officials are in the eye of the storm, include stellar footballing countries (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, for instance). Michel Platini of France was among those who voted for Qatar. As for Qatar, it is looking increasingly likely that it will forfeit its World Cup ambition. But some of the objections from Western sportswriters are ingenuous. Playing in air-conditioned stadiums is not unthinkable - baseball and American football tournaments are regularly held in such stadiums in Texas and Arizona and some CONCACAF matches have also been played there. Nor is the suggestion of playing matches during the cooler night hours absurd. Some writers have suggested that it will upset footballers' circadian rhythms. This did not seem to be an issue when World Cups were played in Japan and South Korea or South America. Formula-One drivers and tennis players do it all the time. Finally, the concerns about treatment of labour are surely the most insincere; they are markedly absent when West Asian money floods into European club football. Overall, it is hard to escape the notion that the established footballing nations are leveraging this crisis to reassert their grip over a lucrative business that Fifa under Mr Blatter made, however imperfect the effort, more inclusive rather than addressing the core issue of poor governance. If that happens, football will be the biggest loser.