By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – The Jordanian Royal Court has stepped into an increasingly distasteful FIFA presidential spat by denouncing alleged attempts to spread false rumours about the campaign being led by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, specifically involving his Jewish chief spin doctor.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – Sepp Blatter will find out later this week whether his appeal hearing to clear his name marked his last ever official visit to FIFA headquarters where he has ruled for the best part of 18 years.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – The international players union FIFPro have laid bare their objections to the current transfer system, revealing that compensation for clubs who develop young talent is woefully inadequate.
By Matt Scott
January 17 – The FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale has denied French-media accusations he received kickbacks worth hundreds of millions of dollars over a transaction involving a Canadian mining company in 2007.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 16 – Banned UEFA president Michel Platini says he is confident of clearing his name in time to take centre stage at this summer’s European Championship finals in his native France.
February 15 – FIFA presidential candidate Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has issued fresh denials that he had anything to do with suppressing pro-democracy protests in his native Bahrain four years ago.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – As he begins a 12-year ban from football, in contrast to flying round the world and staying in luxury hotels as FIFA’s most senior day to day administrator, Jerome Valcke’s lawyer insists the organisation’s former number two has done “absolutely nothing wrong” despite being punished for abusing FIFA’s money and a host of other misdemeanours.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – The latest move in Michel Platini’s efforts to resume his shattered career as UEFA president was taking place today with FIFA’s appeals committee considering his eight-year ban from all football-related activity.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – Jerome Valcke, for years Sepp Blatter’s right-hand man and his most senior day-to-day administrator, was sensationally banned from all football activities for 12 years today for serious misconduct including underselling TV and media rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, using FIFA’s money for private travel and destroying evidence.
February 12 – FIFA presidential candidate Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has signed an amended version of an Amnesty International pledge to end human rights abuses and corruption in the sport.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – If Africa is regarded as the main battleground to pick up votes in the forthcoming FIFA presidential election, then CONCACAF runs a close second.
February 11 – Swiss weekly newspaper Weltwoche has published damning detail of an Australian-led campaign to attack Qatar, destabilise FIFA and fund a disinformation campaign against FIFA election candidate Shaikh Salman bin Al-Khalifa.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 11 – Describing the upcoming election as “perhaps the most crucial date in the history of football governance”, FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein took a swipe at his rivals today as he outlined a detailed plan of action for his first year in charge of world football’s scandal-plagued governing body.
By Paul Nicholson
February 11 – The intensive lobbying of African federations for their vote in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections last week saw more use of the ‘Gianni Jet’. This time it was spotted on a Facebook post delivering UEFA-funded candidate Gianni Infantino to Juba in South Sudan.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 11 – One of the original ‘Zurich Seven’ detained in the first wave of arrests in May that kicked off the biggest corruption scandal in the history of FIFA has been refused bail in a Brooklyn court.