Could UEFA Blow Up The 2018 World Cup in Russia?

Reports are circulating that European and South American nations could pull out of the 2018 World Cup and and instead hold a separate tournament, both delegitimizing and sapping the talent pool of FIFA's crown jewel. The idea, which was circulating before FIFA president Sepp Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term amid U.S. Justice Department charges of widespread corruption within the organization, was made by Danish UEFA executive committee member Allan Hansen. Now that Blatter and his gang are on the ropes, there will likely be a vote on the proposal in Berlin this Friday before the Champions League final.

The move is almost certainly a bluff, but one the European federations feel is necessary to force overdue FIFA reforms. Hansen described a boycott and alternative tournament as the "most radical option," stating that:

Another report claims that UEFA will not boycott the next World Cup, but that president Michael Platini and others could resign from their FIFA executive committee positions. England's Football Association vice-chairman and UEFA executive committee member David Gill already has resigned his post, a move that came shortly after Blatter's reelection. Complicating things for UEFA, however, is the fact that several European countries are suspected to have ignored a prior agreement to vote for Prince Ali of Jordan in the recent election—according to the Independent, this includes Spain and Platini's France—and instead voted for Blatter.

Since 1930, the winners of the World Cup have been either European or South American. A boycott would hurt FIFA, and an extended schism likely would doom the organization—an outcome that would upend a still mostly-functional international gravy train. As such, all of this talk—which is just that, talk—seems largely symbolic, intended to put pressure on not only FIFA and Blatter, but also FIFA's sponsors. The more FIFA's corruption comes to light, and the louder dissenters grumble, the better chance reformers have to unseat the incumbent regime and make needed changes.