LAHORE, Pakistan — The World Cup is the grandest spectacle on the planet. While figures of how many people actually watch the event are contested, they certainly are massive. This popularity translates to advertising revenue, merchandise sales, TV royalties and much more. Ultimately, FIFA earns millions of dollars through the World Cup, which accounts for the majority of its revenue.

The problem is that FIFA is a corrupt organization that pays little attention to whom it is hurting while it raises billions of dollars. In 2012, the British newspaper The Sunday Times claimed to have unearthed proof that former FIFA executive Mohamed Bin Hammam paid more than 5 million USD to secure Qatar’s 2022 bid. After the allegations surfaced, Hammam was promptly banned by FIFA’s Adjudicatory Chamber based on violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Unfortunately, this scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. The most recent World Cup, held in Brazil, has also been under immense scrutiny. Brazilians protested against their government and FIFA for prioritizing money over the lives of people. Disputed reports suggest that over 250,000 people have been displaced because of construction related to the World Cup. FIFA, in another money-hungry move, refused to accept the ban on beer in stadiums in Brazil because of its partnership with Budweiser. The ban was in place to protect fans as incidents had already occurred in which drunken spectators had gotten a little out of hand.

It is clear that FIFA is a despicable organization, and yet I contribute, however little, towards its revenue. I bought a Brazuca, I watched all the matches, and I cheered for Germany all the way to the final whistle. I shed a few tears for Messi. I sighed as the World Cup ended, and I’ll miss it dearly. I did all of this while knowing that FIFA needs some serious reform. I’m a hypocrite, just like the millions of other individuals who watched the World Cup understanding all too well what the miserable organization gains from it.

FIFA is too big to boycott, and that’s what makes it so powerful. Most of its revenue comes from one source, the World Cup, and yet it is nearly impossible to launch a collective global effort to stop watching the matches. If we could, it would be a massive blow since approximately 70 percent of FIFA’s revenue comes from the sale of broadcasting and media rights. To stop watching would send the sternest message to FIFA and Sepp Blatter. That, however, is not going to happen.

This is due to a couple of reasons, the first being that football is, arguably, a beautiful game. Even though FIFA is a blatantly corrupt organization, people will still watch the sport because they enjoy it to the extent of being willing to overlook the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people. Football is a global sport and boycotting would mean being left out of the action. It’s the biggest party, and you do not want to miss it.

The second reason applies to many other of the world’s problems: people are removed from the issues. Why would a family in Costa Rica care about people displaced in Brazil? And even if they did, would they care enough to boycott an event like the World Cup? Hardly. It’s the same reason why there is very little uproar over the deaths of labor workers on the FIFA construction sites in Qatar. People just do not care enough, and neither are they affected by the issues.

So how do we resolve this? Clearly me boycotting by not watching the World Cup or not buying merchandise won’t damage FIFA much. It seems highly unlikely to be successful on a global level. And so the only tactic that seems to remain is to raise awareness amongst the sponsors, letting them know that their sponsorship of such a corrupt organization is unethical. Adidas and a couple of other major sponsors spoke up against FIFA after concerns were voiced over Qatar hosting the World Cup. But these same sponsors kept quiet over the unethical treatment of workers in Qatar and the displacement of people in Brazil.

The responsibility of corruption and mismanagement lies with the sponsors as well, who continue to implicitly condone the actions of FIFA by providing it with millions of dollars. It would be easier to convince these sponsors to speak up against FIFA, as their companies interact more with everyday people than FIFA itself. This to me seems the easiest way of delivering the message that FIFA’s actions will not be tolerated in the future.