When Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin said earlier this week that his company would willingly support a Chinese bid to host the FIFA World Cup, it came as a surprise to no one. Wang and his firm have long talked about this goal, with Wanda's agreement last week to become a top-level FIFA sponsor just the latest move in this direction.

But some of Wang's other comments were a great deal more surprising, and perhaps also a little troubling.

Wang said Monday that his firm's sponsorship - set to last for the next four World Cups and reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars - would give Wanda "the potential to help decide where future editions of the World Cup will be staged."

In other words, sponsors should be able to exert influence on FIFA officials when it comes to awarding the host rights for the World Cup, an event that generated nearly $5 billion for FIFA in 2014.

Wang went on to say that another two Chinese companies are in talks with FIFA about a similar level of sponsorship after spots were freed up when companies including Sony, Emirates, Castrol, Johnson & Johnson and Continental Tires decided not to renew their contracts following a series of embarrassing scandals at FIFA headquarters.

Applying Wang's previous logic, with three Chinese companies each paying vast sums into FIFA's bank accounts, China would have a near unassailable position when it decides to launch a bid for the World Cup, which could, theoretically, be as soon as this spring, depending on what the fine print of the bidding rules allows.

If, as is currently the case, China is not allowed to bid for the 2026 World Cup given that the 2022 edition will already be held in Asia, then all signs point to a successful attempt for the 2030 tournament.

While that would be great for China and Chinese soccer, with additional benefits for the health of the global game, it is hardly the message that FIFA - supposedly entering a new era under recently elected President Gianni Infantino - wants to send.

After all, allegations that previous World Cups were ­effectively "bought" was arguably what brought down the previous administration.

After making a financial loss last year for the first time in over a decade, FIFA is in no position to be turning away sponsors. But if it fails to make clear that it retains total control over the bidding process, it leaves itself open to accusations that the Infantino era is simply business as usual.

The author is a Beijing-based writer. dreyermark@gmail.com