Why doesn’t FIFA do anything?

(Warning: soccer post coming up.)

The Sports Guy has a pretty great column about the U.S. team’s latest loss to Mexico in Mexico City. You should give it a read. What I was most struck by was the description of something I already had a little awareness of: The absolutely despicable, disgusting behavior of Mexican soccer fans. Some highlights:

The stands hug the field, shoot straight up and couldn’t be more intimidating, especially in the corners, where fans shower opponents with beers, sodas and LTYDEWTKWTA (Liquids That You Don’t Even Want To Know What They Are) on every corner kick. …

The Mexican fans had no problem drowning out “The Star-Spangled Banner” with jeers. They tossed drinks and debris at the U.S. bench for most of the second half … which didn’t matter because Azteca’s opposing bench has an impenetrable plexiglass roof, but still. During a corner kick in extra time, they showered Landon Donovan with such a staggering amount of debris that he briefly staggered back toward the field in disbelief, shrugging his hands as if to say, “How could anyone act like this?” …

The U.S. was allotted about 500 seats for Sam’s Army (a traveling band of American fans); they were crammed in the upper deck in one corner with armed police officers flanking both aisles. Fans tossed drinks, batteries and rocks at them, then berated them in Spanish. …

Have you ever had someone tell you in all seriousness, “We don’t want to sit in the stands, we would get hit by bags of urine”?

Like I said, I’ve heard stories about the Mexican fans behaving like uncivilized animals. It’s like going to a Philadelphia sporting event but exponentially worse. So my question is this: Why the hell hasn’t FIFA, the international governing body of the sport, done anything about it? FIFA regularly levies bans for incidents of racism. Racism is bad and hurts feelings and all that, but I’ve never seen an epithet give someone a case of hepatitis like throwing a bag of urine at a player/opposing fan could. Does FIFA not have dominion over world cup qualifiers? That doesn’t sound right. Why is Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA’s president, ignoring this?