Satyam Fraud Gives the World Cup a Satyam-Fraud-Shaped Black Eye

After two days spent reading about murder and political retribution, you’re probably ready for a hot, juicy dose of World Cup-related accounting fraud. Well, cut into this steak, sailor: India’s Satyam, one of the six major corporate sponsors of the World Cup (and FIFA’s official IT services provider), has been caught massively overreporting its worth, to the tune of about 50 billion rupees. (It’s a loud tune. It sounds like a broken piano playing a billion dollars.) It’s important to note that this isn’t FIFA’s fault, unless it’s a case of like souls meeting in the mist. But it does mean that the World Cup will either have to replace one of its six major sponsors or be seen cavorting with the Enron of India. Which would you choose?

UPDATE: It turns out that Satyam are one of the top twelve World Cup sponsors, not one of the top six. See the comments for clarification. Sorry about the error. It doesn’t affect the basic point.