By Andrew Warshaw
October 1 – Michel Platini may have his mind very much on the FIFA presidential election and whether he will actually still eligible as a result of the already notorious and still not fully explained SFr2 million payment he received whilst working for Sepp Blatter several years ago.
October 1 – If ever proof were needed that all is not quite right at the top of FIFA and UEFA, tomorrow’s annual friendly game between the staff of both organisations has suddenly been postponed – relieving respective presidents Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini of coming face to face.
September 30 – Sepp Blatter is remaining calm and relaxed and has not been fazed by the furore over criminal proceedings being opened against him, according to his former public relations adviser Klaus Stoehlker.
September 30 – FIFA’s Russian powerbroker Vitaly Mutko has been forced to backtrack after an apparent gaffe about being afraid of becoming the latest high-profile football figure to be arrested.
By Paul Nicholson
September 30 – Michel Platini has reacted swiftly to heightened speculation over the SFr2 million payment he received from FIFA in 2011, saying that it was settlement for work that he had completed in 2002, and that he still intends to stand for the FIFA presidency.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – Four years after he resigned all his FIFA roles rather than face being thrown out, the past came back to haunt Jack Warner today when the notorious former FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF chief was banned for life from all football-related activity, at national and international level, by FIFA’s independent ethics committee.
By Paul Nicholson
September 29 – The bomb that dropped on FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini on Friday following the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s investigation of a suspicious payment to Platini of SFr2 million, may have just exploded.
By David Owen
September 29 – Futsal, a form of five-a-side football, is to replace the standard 11-a-side format at the next Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. The decision to make the switch was taken by FIFA at its eventful two-day Executive Committee meeting in Zurich last week.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – In a clear attempt not to be undone in terms of snatching the moral high ground, FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has launched a scathing attack on the credibility of the organisation declaring it is now in “total meltdown” after the recent allegations concerning Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Just as Sepp Blatter refused to resign in the wake of the criminal proceedings opened against him, so his would-be successor Michel Platini sought to keep alive his election hopes and reputation by protesting his innocence to UEFA’s entire membership over receiving a suspected SFr2 million unlawful payment from his one-time mentor.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – A bullish Sepp Blatter has decided to dig in his heels and stand his ground despite the criminal investigation into his activities.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has been quick to seize on Michel Platini’s alleged implication in the ongoing corruption crisis by once again reiterating the need for a fresh start at world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Michel Platini’s dreams of taking over at FIFA face being dealt a hammer blow as a result of the already-infamous 2 million Swiss franc payment he received for unexplained work undertaken on behalf of Sepp Blatter.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Almost lost in the stunning news that the Swiss attorney general was opening a criminal investigation into FIFA president Sepp Blatter, was the release of information following the two-day FIFA executive committee meeting that “deliberated on a number of forward-looking measures to improve governance as part of the reform process.”
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – In the most dramatic development to date in the entire FIFA corruption scandal, Swiss investigators today announced that they had opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter on “suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation”.