By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – The most dramatic election build-up in FIFA history has taken yet another unexpected twist when the head of Brazil’s national federation and a senior FIFA official fled Switzerland a few hours before the ballot.
By Mark Baber
May 29 – As Sam Nyamweya, whose survival as head of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) is something of a miracle, prepares to vote in the FIFA Presidential election, he faces growing problems at home where letters to and from commercial rights agency MP & Silva are being published in the local press and a mounting campaign to put an end to his controversial reign appears to be gathering steam.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 28 – Poland’s copper and silver miner KGHM has sais it plans to put Zaglebie Lubin up for sale following the club’s promotion to the country’s top tier Ekstraklasa.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – Britain’s incoming FIFA vice-president David Gill will refuse to take up his new position if Sepp Blatter is re-elected FIFA president on Friday in the latest startling development to envelop world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – A defiant Sepp Blatter opened arguably the most tension-filled congress of his 17 years in charge of FIFA with a rallying cry clearly designed to sway any wavering voters his way after a tumultuous 48 hours in the history or world football’s governing body.
By Mark Baber
May 28 – The match-fixing crisis in Greek football rumbles on with a further six players facing additional charges (making a total of 41 players, managers and referees to date), with the owner of Olympiakos being questioned and the vice-president of the Central Refereeing Committee resigning.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
May 28 – CONCACAF have said that they want the election for FIFA president to go ahead tomorrow, and have set up their own Special Committee to manage the affairs of the confederation after the tumultuous events of yesterday that saw their president Jeffrey Webb and Costa Rican president and newly elected FIFA executive member Eduardo Li arrested in their Zurich hotels by Swiss police.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – In the face of the worst crisis to hit FIFA under his leadership, Sepp Blatter called a meeting of his emergency committee today and came face to face with his nemesis, UEFA boss Michel Platini.
By Samindra Kunti
May 28 – Belgian club KV Mechelen are gunning for European qualification again as they take on Charleroi in the playoffs. A refurbished stadium must revive a club that went nearly bankrupt in 2003.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – Western-led calls for Sepp Blatter to resign as FIFA president in the wake of the gravest corruption crisis to hit his organisation were described today as “blasphemy” by one of Africa’s federation presidents who said his continent was more firmly behind the veteran Swiss than ever.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – Visa has issued the most critical statement yet from any major World Cup sponsor in response to the spate of arrests of past and present FIFA officials on racketeering and bribery charges that have made worldwide headlines.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has broken his silence over the stunning corruption claims that have sent shockwaves through the sport by claiming that he personally welcomed efforts taken to clean up the sport.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 28 – Accusing FIFA of indulging for two generations in a “World Cup of Fraud”, US justice authorities today laid bare the full and sensational extent of corruption at the heart of football’s world governing body in the Americas. Those indicted by the US authorities are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m over a 24-year period.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
May 27 – More details surrounding the seven arrests in Zurich this morning have been releasesd by US law authorities who have stepped up their assault on CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, its executives and associated marketing parties. The information details the nine FIFA officials and five company executives who have been “indicted for racketeering, conspiracy and corruption”.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson in Zurich
May 27 – Dawn raids at a Zurich hotel have plunged FIFA into crisis with the reported arrest of six officials by Swiss law enforcement authorities. No sooner had news of the arrests been made than FIFA was hit by a second bombshell within a few hours when the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced it has opened criminal proceedings in connection with the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups “against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and money laundering”.