By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 31 – Lydia Nsekera of Burundi became the first ever elected female member of FIFA’s executive committee today but her victory was shrouded in alleged politics despite football’s world governing body striving for new transparency and openness.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 31 – FIFA’s much-trumpeted reform measures, designed to improve the battered image of world football’s governing body and herald in a new era of transparency, were approved by a landslide majority of members today – but not before Mark Pieth, the governance advisor charged with drawing up the original proposals, caused a huge stir by challenging Sepp Blatter and his colleagues to reveal their salaries.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 31 – In one of the most direct speeches of his 15-year FIFA presidency, Sepp Blatter today launched a tough-talking and passionate defence of his organisation’s efforts to eliminate corruption whilst attacking the scourge of racism in football in similar fashion.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 30 – “Nobody loves us, we don’t care” is the mantra of one of England’s less popular football teams. Barring one word in that phrase, one could argue FIFA is adopting pretty much the same mentality as they approach the climax of Sepp Blatter’s two-campaign to rid his organisation of slease and corruption.
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 30 – Zhang Jilong (pictured), the Chinese official who ran Asian football as interim president for two years yet opted not to apply for the job full-time, is back at the top table of FIFA. Zhang has been unexpectedly parachuted back on to the FIFA executive committee in place of Sri Lankan’s Fernando Manilal.
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 30 – The head of the Palestinian football federation says the harsh treatment of his country’s players and officials by Israel is showing no sign of receding despite the best efforts of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Exclusive: by Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 29 – The full extent of the split between Europe and the rest of FIFA – and potentially between Sepp Blatter and his possible successor Michel Platini – over the much-touted reform process has been underlined with the revelation that UEFA were officially outvoted over the decision to postpone age and term limits for senior officials for another 12 months.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 29 – The official charged with enforcing proper financial controls at FIFA after a spate of corruption scandals has launched an astonishing attack on Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, the disgraced duo who led CONCACAF for the best part of a generation.
May 29 – FIFA’s executive committee may have been split on the reform package they are to put to Friday’s Congress vote, but they did find concensus on other matters, including the awarding of tournament hosts, shortlisting of tournament bids and an update on next year’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw, in Mauritius
May 29 – The man leading the global fight to wipe racism out of football has confirmed that players and officials face five-match bans and that clubs and national teams face points deductions, stadium closures, relegation and being thrown out of competitions if found guilty of abuse.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correpondent, in Mauritius
May 29 – Sepp Blatter’s personal crusade to clean up FIFA after years of scandal and corruption has taken a massive hit with the news that age restrictions and term of office limits for FIFA officials – viewed as a key part of the two-year road map to reform – have been dropped from the agenda at Friday’s annual congress.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 27 – It’s not every day that Mauritius, renowned as one of the world’s most exclusive tourist destinations, becomes the centre of attention for footballing reasons.
May 24 – Mauritius, host to next week’s gathering of the world’s football federations for the 63rd FIFA Congress, will kick proceedings off with the opening of a new facility and the renaming of an older one.
May 20 – With FIFA having concluded all its 2014 World Cup sponsorships last week with the announcement of Brazilian sports retailer Centauro as the sixth and final national sponsor, it has followed up swiftly this week with the unveiling of INTERSPORT as the Official Event Shop of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 17 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has conceded that political interests as well as genuine footballing criteria were in part responsible for Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.