Lost among this week’s FIFA bribery allegations was a piece by The Washington Post on Wednesday looking at exactly how dangerous the culture of deceit and deception around FIFA has become.

It’s one thing to be upset about nearly $150 million in bribes regarding tournaments for the world’s most popular sport.  It’s another thing entirely to realize that these bribes, and more importantly the men behind these bribes, have not only endangered the lives of thousands of innocent people but have also caused the death of over a thousand people so far with that number only expected to rise.

As the above graphic shows, nearly 1,200 migrant workers, many of them Nepalese, have died since construction began on Qatar’s World Cup sites in December of 2010.  These workers are hundreds of miles away from their families, living in squalid conditions, forced to work in summer heat that approaches 140 degrees, doing dangerous and often unsafe work, and all for minimal wages.  At this current pace, more than 4,000 migrant workers will die by the time the World Cup kicks off in 2022.  In an event designed to bring the world together, the Qatar World Cup is instead being used to line the pockets of millionaires at the expense of thousands of poor, migrant workers who are literally giving their lives for the games to proceed.

As the FIFA scandal unfolds in the coming weeks, the world will come to see the organization for what it is:  A group of corrupt, lying, and tactless individuals who will do anything in their power to line their own pockets.  Comedians like John Oliver have made this point abundantly clear.  Yet now that we have actual numbers as do how deadly this culture can be, will anything be done?  Sure they have been half-baked calls on the United States to boycott the 2022 World Cup.  But when will we as sports fans, nay as human beings, say enough is enough?

People are currently dying for sport.  These are not the days of the Colosseum in ancient Rome.  This is the 21st century where we now have cable and internet and know exactly what is going on.  It is no secret that thousands of innocent people will be killed so that 32 countries can send grown men to kick a ball in a net and eventually, the men that put the ball in the net the most times get to hold a trophy with two human figures holding up the Earth.

Because what better way to lift up the world than to kill the poorest among us so the rich get richer?

Copyright Trevor LaFauci, sports.politicususa.com 2015