By Andrew Warshaw
September 8 – A ruling on the immediate futures of both Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini is expected to be made at around lunchtime Thursday following unconfirmed reports that a provisional 90-day suspension has been recommended for the respective presidents of both FIFA and UEFA.
By Paul Nicholson
October 7 – Reports have surfaced that FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini have had requests for 90-day suspensions from all football activities. The requests have been made by FIFA Ethic’s investigatory body and will now be heard by FIFA’s adjudicatory body.
By Paul Nicholson
October 7 – FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon continued today where he left off yesterday with another assault on FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the corruption within the organisation, saying that he intends to sue Blatter in Zurich for as much as $100 million, money he would return to FIFA if he wins the case.
October 7 – With FIFA president Sepp Blatter currently not speaking to the press, what he is thinking is really anyone’s guess, and plenty are guessing. What we do know is that he is still running FIFA and that he is adamant that despite accusations and investigations he intends to carry on until the election of the new FIFA president in February next year.
October 7 – Franz Beckenbauer has once again backed Tokyo Sexwale as an ideal candidate for the FIFA presidency to succeed Sepp Blatter and says the German FA would support him if he decides to stand by the October 26 deadline.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – Not for the first time, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has given FIFA a gentle reminder of how genuine reform can be achieved.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – Wherever he travels at present, Tokyo Sexwale is asked the same question. Will he be running for Fifa president? The South African human rights icon keeps giving the same diplomatic answer, that he has not yet made up his mind. But he only has until October 26 to do so.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – In arguably the most explosive attack on FIFA and its judicial procedure, South Korean presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has confirmed for the first time that he faces imminent suspension, possibly for 15 years, but not before laying bare what he claims are rampant double standards by FIFA’s ethics committee.
By Paul Nicholson
October 6 – Rafael Esquivel, one of the seven FIFA executives arrested in the dawn raids at the end of May and detained on US warrants for his extradition, has been refused release from custody on health grounds as the Swiss view him as a flight risk.
By Paul Nicholson
October 5 – US Ambassador to Switzerland Suzan LeVine (pictured) has emphasised that all those arrested in the corruption scandals engulfing FIFA had US links or US citizenship, seemingly offering an explanation to the Swiss public as to why the US justice authorities have acted so invasively in Swiss territory.
October 5 – Under-fire UEFA president Michel Platini has taken his innocence stance over a 2 million franc payment he received from president Sepp Blatter all the way to government level in his home country France.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 5 – South Korea’s heavyweight candidate Chung Mong-joon has staged a late u-turn and has decided to attend this week’s Leaders in Sport Business Summit in London despite rumours circulating about his FIFA presidential prospects.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 5 – Sepp Blatter’s daughter has expressed her inner fears about her father’s recent interrogation at the hands of Swiss authorities, saying she was worried they would “take him away in handcuffs.”
By Andrew Warshaw
October 4 – Sepp Blatter has rejected the demands of a string of FIFA’s front-line US sponsors to step down immediately in the wake of the deepening corruption crisis, saying to do so would not help the beleagured organisation.
By Paul Nicholson
October 2 – Speculation that Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa could become a candidate in the race for FIFA’s presidency has been met with a statement from his office saying that his priority is to represent the AFC, and his “obligations are primarily to Asia”.