THERE has been a rotten smell hanging over football's world governing body for a long time.

Fifa feels decidedly dodgy and it is high time the air was cleared.

If US investigators are proved right, Fifa officials have taken millions of pounds in bribes over two decades to secure tournament locations, grant television rights, and rig elections.

Fourteen people have so far been indicted as part of the investigation and, if convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison.

Football in the modern era is a global business of mind-boggling proportions and the very blunt allegation is that those at the top of the game lined their own pockets in return for making decisions which suited those willing to cough up enough cash.

A separate inquiry has been launched into the bidding process for the World Cup tournaments in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 and any confidence that those countries won on merit is now shot to pieces.

The indicted officials are, of course, innocent until proven guilty in the courts. But such is the crisis facing the credibility of Fifa that it is surely unthinkable that the presidential election goes ahead on Friday.

Sepp Blatter is standing for re-election and, although he is not among the accused, he has presided over an organisation which is viewed with suspicion and disdain around the world.

Gary Lineker is right – it is time the biggest football nations, including England, boycotted an organisation which has become at best an embarrassment, at worst a self-serving hotbed of corruption.