Much like the Lance Armstrong "I didn't take any drugs" story, after years and years of rumors, FIFA and the beautiful game of soccer are now beset by the worst kind of corruption.

Key officials have been arrested and have begun admitting to bribery charges. Sepp Blatter, the controversial elected head of FIFA, the governing body of soccer, has resigned amongst the all of the outrage and outcry – although some reports say he is considering taking back that decision. If he goes ahead with his plan to step down, it still won't be for several months, and he has pledged to make changes in the time he has left.  

The changes come about after charges were filed by the United States and the Swiss launched an investigation into the activities of FIFA officials. Bribery and skulduggery are at the heart of the problems for the organization. 

To say there is a cloud over this game is a massive understatement.

I am no expert and I admit it, but I do understand the world of big time politics and scandal and have a few ideas about how to clean up the world of soccer.

First of all Blatter has to go, immediately, not in a couple of months. The U. S. Department of Justice has to either use or threaten to use its powers to make it happen. And if he tries to un-resign, the same DOJ must spearhead an effort to keep him at bay. The powers of the justice department are vast and can be very influential. 

That same threat needs to be used to persuade members of the organization to support selection of an impartial, non-soccer leader. The corruption of this place is most likely spread across vast areas, and if FIFA decides to try to fix itself from the inside, nobody is going to believe them.

For instance, when the 2002 Winter Olympics were awarded to Salt Lake City and the resulting scandal of bribery forced the resignation of some Olympic officials, an outsider – Mitt Romney – was brought in to clean things up. And he did. 

In order to send a message, as well as start to fix things, FIFA has to also withdraw the awarding of World Cups to Russia and Qatar, neither one of which makes any sense except for the belief that both places bought the selections.

Qatar, for example, is way too hot for a World Cup. The temperature can rise to 120 degrees. In addition, there have been hundreds of deaths of the slave laborers brought in to build the World Cup facilities. By the time the actual contest begins, an astronomical amount of people will have died inhumanely laboring to bring it to life. 

Russia should also lose the Cup without waiting around to find absolute proof that Russia bribed World Cup officials before they get stripped of the cup. In this case, it should be guilty until proven innocent. It doesn't matter that they have already spent millions to build facilities. They also possibly spent millions to bribe people. 

One more thing that would be a great help in fixing things is if the United States put its muscle behind developing this country into a soccer power. Say what you will: America is a leading force in the world of sports. We have the best basketball, football and baseball. We are the base for the best hockey in the world. We are a beacon in the world of sports and are pretty much corruption free. We can tell the rest of the world what to do, but it might be better if we can set an example both on and off the field. 

And the example we can set is to build American into a legitimate world power in soccer. If adequate resources are allocated to a program like thism there's no doubt it could be achieved. Maybe not overnight, but at a much faster pace than we are going down now. 

Unless there is both fundamental reform and powerful leadership, the fear is that things are going to just keep on going on the way they have, and the beautiful game – a unifying one beloved across the globe – will continue to suffer.