New Delhi, July 24 -- Now that La Roja, as Spain's football team is called, has walked away with the coveted trophy of the 2026 World Cup, the grand spectacle is over. What's left, alas, will evoke far less interest: the counting of profits by the hugely-profitable Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), which held the tournament.

Though registered as a charity in Switzerland, Fifa is among the world's richest sports associations. For the latest World Cup, where 48 teams took part in a record 104 matches in 16 cities, it projected revenues of over $8.7 billion, its highest ever and a lot more than what it drew four years ago in Qatar.

Yet, such is its clout that it gets away without paying taxes on its bounty.

What st...