And then there were seven. FIFA announces names of men who would be king

FIFA signage

By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – Seven rather than eight contenders are in the running to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, football’s world governing body officially announced today, the omission being former Trinidad and Tobago international David Nakhid who confirmed his intention to stand on Monday but appears to have failed to receive the required endorsement from five member associations.

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Salman slams critics’ lies and promises a new FIFA

Salman4

By Andrew Warshaw
October 27 – Within hours of officially putting his name forward as a FIFA presidential candidate, Asian football supremo Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has given his first public reaction to the wave of accusations over his alleged involvement in human rights abuses in his native Bahrain, calling them “damaging” and “nasty lies”.

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Beckenbauer says €6.7m ‘mistake’ was not cash for 2006 votes

Beckenbauer and Niersbach

By Andrew Warshaw
October 27 – The 2006 World Cup slush fund saga has taken an intriguing twist with Franz Beckenbauer, who led Germany’s organising committee, accepting responsibility for the German Football Association’s “mistake” in making a payment of €6.7 million to FIFA towards securing a grant for staging costs – but again denied the money was used in any way to buy votes.

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