No one in this sorry mess can be trusted

FIFA cannot be trusted. They have demonstrated over decades that they cannot be trusted. This is an organisation that have been proven utterly corrupt, morally bankrupt and frequently criminal.

New president Gianni Infantino has done nowhere near enough to prove his ‘ new’ FIFA are much different from Sepp Blatter’s.

Russian sport cannot be trusted. The sports ministry, backed by state money and support, systematically corrupted Russian sport via doping and cover- ups, cheating their way to glory at London 2012 and Sochi 2014 to name just two Olympics. Russia has never admitted full liability and never said sorry.

Governing bodies, in general, cannot be trusted. The International Olympic Committee were explicitly warned eight months before Sochi that Russia would corruptly manipulate the event via doping and the IOC insisted: ‘That won’t happen.’ It did. So everyone in sport has been conned by Russia before and Russia lied about it.

Fast forward to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Would you trust FIFA on integrity issues? Would you trust Russia on doping? There is no reason you would trust either.

And that is before you learn that FIFA have, for 18 months, had documentary evidence of Russian footballers allegedly implicated in the state- sponsored doping and cover-ups. And kept those secret. And taken no action.

With FIFA and Russian sport in tandem, it is impossible to trust in anything you see. FIFA could start to address that. But do not hold your breath.