By Mark Baber
November 17 – FIFA may be under fire from its existing US sponsors but its properties still have attraction for marketers. Rinnai, the Japanese-headquartered tankless water heater manufacturer and distributor has signed on as an official sponsor of FIFA Club World Cup 2015, being held December 10 – 20 2015 in Japan.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 17 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, his would-be successor, face being banned for several years before Christmas whether or not they successfully appeal against their current provisional suspensions.
By Paul Nicholson in Manama, Bahrain
November 16 – If you want to know the truth go to the source and ask the questions, is the message from Asian Football Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa who is challenging for the FIFA presidency. In the first of two instalments, Salman speaks exclusively to Insideworldfootball on the accusations of human rights abuses and his candidacy for the FIFA presidency.
November 16 – David Nakhid, the former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder who was excluded from the FIFA presidential campaign on a technicality, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a final effort to get back in the race.
November 13 – Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been discharged from hospital after what was described as a “small emotional breakdown”.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – FIFA’s electoral committee were unanimous in allowing Asian football chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa to run for the presidency and in banning Liberia’s Musa Bility from standing, Insideworldfootball has learned.
By Paul Nicholson in Manama, Bahrain
November 12 – Bahrain’s most famous footballer and the national team’s top scorer Ala’a Hubail, has told Insideworldfootball that he hopes “Shaikh Salman becomes president because he would be the first arab president and that makes me very proud.” He also said that the allegations swirling around Shaikh Salman’s candidacy are not true, “it is not in his character”.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 12 – The race for the FIFA presidency will be contested by five candidates, pending Michel Platini’s appeal against suspension, after Liberia’s Musa Bility was unexpectedly ruled out following integrity checks into the potential contenders to take over from Sepp Blatter on February 26.
November 11- Suspended Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who a few days ago was reported to be suffering from stress, has now been hospitalised for treatment after what has been described as a “small breakdown”.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 11- Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino insists he will not give way to Michel Platini if he wins the Fifa presidential election on February 26.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 10 – Comprehensive integrity checks into six of the seven candidates running for FIFA president have now been completed by FIFA ethics investigators – but no recommendations have been made and the verdicts won’t be announced for several more days.
By Samindra Kunti
November 9 – The Dutch FA KNVB is considering possible legal steps against FIFA after Sepp Blatter’s controversial revelation that Russia was awarded the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a fixed agreement. The KNVB have contacted their Belgian counterparts for consultation.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – The English Football Association has written to FIFA demanding answers to “important questions”, following Sepp Blatter’s revelation that a pre-arranged pact was made to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia before the vote.
November 8 – Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been ordered to rest because of stress as he awaits the outcome of an ethics investigation into alleged financial misconduct.
By Andrew Warshaw
Nvember 5 – Critics of Sepp Blatter have long been calling for his head and while he has certainly been feeling the heat, residents in a small south of England town have taken the burning issue of his alleged role in FIFA’s unprecedented corruption scandal to somewhat incendiary lengths.