Same rules, same game: FIFA to make referee training gender neutral
December 8 – FIFA’s refereeing chief Massimo Busacca (pictured) wants male and female referees to have the same level of expertise and a deeper knowledge of the game.
FIFA
CAS poised to make first ruling on Platini suspension with hearings today
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The highest court in sport will today consider whether to temporarily uphold Michel Platini’s appeal against the 90-day suspension that bars him from seeking the FIFA presidency.
Exclusive: ‘Major deficiencies’ in record-keeping for FIFA development cash
By David Owen
December 8 – Beneficiaries of FIFA’s $350 million Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) are falling down on basic record-keeping requirements, in spite of the crisis that has brought the governing body to its knees, leading acting secretary general Markus Kattner to highlight “major deficiencies”.
Ghosts from the past: ISL scandal returns to haunt Blatter
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – The FIFA corruption scandal has taken another mouth-watering twist with the revelation that the FBI is investigating the role Sepp Blatter may have played in a $100 million bribery scam.
Leaked memo on FIFA gig gives Platini a thin lifeline to stay in the game
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – A leaked memo published in a French newspaper on Sunday should clear Michel Platini’s name and allow him to bid for the FIFA presidency in February, according to his legal team.
FIFA and CONCACAF waste no time banning indicted officials
By Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – The two FIFA vice-presidents arrested by police in Zurich on Thursday as part of the burgeoning corruption scandal have been handed 90-day provisional suspensions by the ethics committee.
Scala praises reformists, but says complete culture change still needed
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – Domenico Scala, head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, part of whose job has been to police financial wrongdoing, has praised the reform programme announced Thursday but says a complete culture change is needed to ensure it is successfully implemented.
US justice battles FIFA head-on in the ‘World Cup of fraud’
By Paul Nicholson
December 4 – Just when FIFA’s executive committee thought it was safe to return to Zurich for their final meeting of the year – an event that would climax with the eagerly anticipated unveiling of FIFA’s new (and game-changing) reform proposals – football’s now habitual party poopers from the US justice authorities unleashed a second tsunami on the world governing body.
FIFA tables proposal to expand World Cup to 40 teams
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 3 – FIFA appears on the verge of agreeing to expand the World Cup from 32 to 40 teams, but has deferred a final decision pending discussions about commercial and organisational ramifications.
Hawit and Napout reject US extradition requests
By Paul Nicholson
December 3 – Alfredo Hawit and Juan Angel Napout, arrested this morning in dawn raids at the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, have both opposed their extradition to the US after hearings given to the Zurich cantonal police this morning.
FIFA to scrap exco as reform package targets roots and branches
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 3 – The timing could not have been more apt. On the day the FIFA corruption scandal escalated dramatically with a second dawn raid in six months and the arrests of two more high-profile footballing figures, so decades of protocol were wiped away with a total overhaul of the way the organisation does business.
New FIFA raids as Swiss police swoop again on exco chiefs in Zurich
By Paul Nicholson
December 3 – Lightening does strike twice at FIFA. Police for the second time this year swooped on the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich in dawn raids this morning arresting two more FIFA executive committee members.
Bility appeals to CAS in bid to return to FIFA election race
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – Liberian football chief Musa Bility, barred from running for FIFA president, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to get the judgement overturned.
FIFA deficit may reach $100 million
By David Owen
December 3 – The crisis engulfing FIFA looks to be taking its toll on the football governing body’s finances, with reports emanating from Zurich on Wednesday night to the effect that the 2015 deficit will be worse than budgeted.
FIFA sponsors turn up reform pressure as exco gathers for Carrard report
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – Five front-line sponsors have re-iterated their demands for FIFA’s reform process to have an independent voice – just as proposals for long-lasting change are put to the scandal-plagued organisation’s top brass.