Award wars: Will FIFA’s ‘Best’ burst France Football’s Ballon
November 1 – Fans can vote for FIFA’s 2016 world player of the year after the world governing body’s association with France Football’s Ballon d’Or ended earlier this year.
FIFA
Dark night at the museum as FIFA clears out CEO as numbers miss target
October 28 – FIFA has confirmed reports in the Swiss media by admitting the CEO of its much-touted €128 million museum is leaving, a clear cost-cutting move amid reports of poor visitor numbers since it opened in February.
Out with the old? FIFA museum faces budget crunch as Infantino seeks cost cuts
By Andrew Warshaw
October 27 – Gianni Infantino’s first task as FIFA president six months ago was to open FIFA’s new museum in Zurich and describe it as “the place where football will be lived and breathed.”
Argentina and Uruguay continue play for hosting 2030 World Cup
October 27 – Argentina and Uruguay have reaffirmed their interest in co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which will mark the tournament’s 100-year anniversary.
Stop playing World Cup politics and focus on FIFA clean-up, warns Prince Ali
By Andrew Warshaw
October 25 – Former FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan says football’s world governing body has got its priorities wrong under Gianni Infantino, the man who beat him to the sport’s most powerful position.
North Korea wins U17 World Cup shoot-out; Infantino puts changing attitudes on the spot
October 24 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino says more needs to be done to develop women’s football in regions where female players are often prevented from taking up the sport.
FIFA Ethics hands Makudi a 5-year ban over forgery conviction in Bangkok
By Andrew Warshaw
October 19 – Time and again he fought off his accusers and protested his innocence while other FIFA powerbrokers around him were plunged into shame. But the net has finally closed in on Thailand’s Worawi Makudi who has been banned by FIFA’s ethics committee for five years for election forgery.
FIFA step in to take control of Greek federation
By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – Greek football, for months in turmoil on and off the pitch, has been plunged into further disarray after FIFA announced it is temporarily taking over the running of the Hellenic Football federation.
FIFA’s North American World Cup landscape comes into focus
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – North America seems virtually certain to host an expanded World Cup in 2026 after FIFA essentially barred Europe and Asia from bidding. FIFA’s new-look Council has agreed that the next two host confederations should not be allowed to bid again so soon, leading US Soccer federation president Sunil Gulati (pictured) to remark: “That has changed the landscape a little bit.”
FIFA stalls political decision on Israeli-clubs-in-Palestine row
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – Palestinian officials and human rights organisations will be disappointed at FIFA’s refusal to take a decisive stand over the issue of Israeli clubs based in occupied territory.
David Owen: US set to get its World Cup, but will FIFA regret only one strong 2026 bid?
If 2016 has taught us anything, it is not to kid ourselves that we can see too far into the future. With that proviso, it looks ever more probable, almost a decade before the first ball is actually kicked, that the United States will have a leading role in hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA 2.0 or Blatter 1.1? Infantino outlines his hard driven FIFA Vision
By Andrew Warshaw
October 14 – It is full of detail about transparency and good governance but will it really restore public faith in an organisation brought to its knees by scandal and skullduggery?
Infantino promises ‘bulletproof’ World Cup with expansion verdict in January
By Andrew Warshaw
October 14 – FIFA will decide in January whether to expand the World Cup finals from 32 to either 40 or 48 teams as part of Gianni Infantino’s detailed blueprint for change after eight months in charge of the scandal-wracked organisation.
Infantino puts a shine on his new-look FIFA as he does it ‘my way’
By Andrew Warshaw
October 13 – Gianni Infantino insists FIFA has “turned a page” and become far more credible and trustworthy in the first seven months of his presidency despite all manner of allegations against him and the feeling in some quarters than the organisation has actually gone backwards.
UN sports guru Lemke tells FIFA to bring Israeli clubs in Palestine into line
By Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – As FIFA’s enlarged ruling Council prepares to meet for the first time, the United Nations official responsible for sport has written to the organisation re-iterating that a solution must be found as soon as possible regarding Israeli league teams situated in occupied territory.