There are three different stories in today's news that highlight the state of the modern game.

The first one comes from the Telegraph:

Sporting Gijon defender Javi Poves quits 'rotten' game in disgust and calls on top players to help others

Defender Javi Poves has quit La Liga club Sporting Gijon, saying he has taken a stance against a sport he describes as "rotten".

The second is as yet just a "breaking news" headline in the Guardian:

SPANISH SOCCER PLAYERS' UNION CALLS STRIKE FOR START OF SEASON I

SPANISH SOCCER PLAYERS' UNION CALLS STRIKE FOR START OF SEASON IN TOP TWO DIVISIONS

And thirdly, from the BBC:

UEFA have thrown Greek side Volos out of the Europa League because of their involvement in a match-fixing scandal.Volos was scheduled to face Paris Saint-Germain in a playoff tie on Aug 18 and 25.

Add that little lot to the recent, not so recent, and ongoing FIFA scandals and the stench becomes overpowering.

There was a time when I abhorred the idea of some "breakaway" league or the top clubs in Europe attempting to grab more power for themselves.

But after KH Rummenigge started talking about this stuff a couple of weeks ago, I started to believe it was the only real way to shake up the system and reform things top to bottom. There is far too much money in this game to see it so unevenly distributed, and so much of it wind up in the pockets of corrupt officials, scheming agents, and crooked players or officials.

FIFAs crowned heads are raking so much money, there is no way they will ever change. THe extent of their reform is calling comittees and throwing sacrificial lambs to the press. The absolute farce of Chuck Blazer (who is himself crooked and very possibly mentally derranged) leveling accusations at Mohammed Bin Hammam was proof positive that FIFA takes the entire world for a bunch of fools.