It begins to look alarmingly as if the 2018 World Cup is done and dusted for Russia.
I'm perturbed, not because this would put England out of the picture, but by how Fifa seem quite unperturbed at the way they have implemented the ‘Kick Out Racism' campaign, which they have so hypocritically been deploying for so long.
Now, astonishingly, they are reported as deciding that racism will play no part in the choice of 2018 World Cup hosts.
Yet Russia and racism are inextricably linked. The latest case was witnessed when Russia played little Andorra and racist chants were heard.
Not so long ago, Holland's Dick Advocaat, who successfully managed Zenit Saint Petersburg, told us that he never dared to sign a black player, because he knew just how vicious the hostility would have been.
For me, Fifa's sublime hypocrisy was perfectly illustrated during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Before a match involving Ukraine, there was a smug ceremony under the banner of ‘Kick Out Racism'.
But at the end of the Ukrainian line stood none other than Oleg Blokhin, the team's manager. Blokhin had recently lashed out at black players, saying they had no place in Ukrainian football. What did Fifa do?
European Cup snub
Last week, Chelsea and Manchester United, the two favourites in the fight for the premiership, showed different attitudes towards their respective European Cup games.
Alex Ferguson, his team facing a defensive Rangers side, put out a team with nine changes from the previous Premiership side and didn't give Dimitar Berbatov even a place on the bench.
In effect, he was giving the European Cup — supposedly the foremost of all club competitions — a contemptuous snub, apparently with an eye on the league game against Liverpool in the Premiership.
By sheer contrast, Chelsea are hell bent on winning the title for the very first time. If there was an English club entitled to put out a skeleton team, it surely will be Chelsea.
Protective refereeing
But what dreadful days these have been in terms of serious injuries.
United's Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia winger and Fulham's Bobby Zamora are out for months. Arsenal's Theo Walcott, Diaby and Robin Van Persi, Spurs Jermaine Defoe are sidelined for weeks, too.
I'm on the side of Arsene Wenger when he begs for more protective refereeing — despite the chorus of disapproval he's elicited.
