It has been a move so sharp, opportunistic and clinical any of the great strikers would have been proud of it: Sepp Blatter moving into the space ahead of UEFA and putting himself and FIFA at the forefront of the fight against racism.
A set of apparently tough proposals from FIFA's Strategic Committee are to be put in front of the Executive Committee late in March, and could conceivably be ratified by FIFA's Congress in May.
It was very late on a Sunday night in Johannesburg. A couple of hours had passed since Nigeria's Cup of Nations triumph at South Africa's National Stadium. The last few gasps of vuvuezla tone could be heard in the distance and I was doing my best to talk coherently down the camera about the game I had just seen.
But my overwhelming thought was that these were the final few minutes of what had been an incredible few years in South Africa's sporting history.
In quick succession the world and then their own continent have been the country's guests.
Scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final should be a wonderful experience, but the Uruguayan who broke Brazilian hearts in 1950 took little pleasure at the time.
As Alcides Ghiggia walked from the pitch after his stunning goal for a shock 2-1 win, he found the pain of tens of thousands of Brazilians crammed into the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro distressing, and his own joy was suppressed.
That's how much a home World Cup victory would have meant to Brazil.
Setting up an interview with Harry Gregg was very simple.
A quick call to the hotel he owned in Portstewart on Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast, and an agreement we'd meet at the ferry terminal in Belfast the following morning.
I remember it being chilly and grey and Harry tall, strong and athletic and ready to speak about an event which happened a long time ago but is worth re-telling.
When we met 15 years ago, he was 65.
His handshake was firm and strong, his big goalkeeper's hand almost twice the size of mine.
Harry was part of a Manchester United team, marshalled by their Scottish manager, Matt Busby, whose potential was frightening.
The figures released this week by Europol painted a shocking picture.
380 matches suspected of being fixed in Europe alone. 300 more worldwide. 30 countries investigated, evidence of involvement in 15 countries.
An apparent epidemic of match fixing in Germany. Over 22 million dollars gambled. Over TEN million dollars of apparent profit for a syndicate based in Singapore.
425 people including match officials and players suspected of involvement. 50 arrests.
