December 29 – Global popularity can be a fickle friend when it comes to press coverage – just ask FIFA president Sepp Blatter. But it seems that Twitter popularity doesn’t discriminate in quite the same way when it comes to building a global following.
By David Owen
December 23 – FIFA has moved quickly to spell out how much in one-off financial contributions each if its 209 member associations will next year be entitled to, and the answer is $1.05 million. Adding in a first $250,000 bonus already made available, it means that each association will be eligible for $1.3 million of one-off payments over the 18 months from June this year. The overall bill for this comes to $271.7 million.
December 23 – FIFA has announced that it is abolishing age limits for international referees. The previous rule forced match officials to leave its international list before the turn of their 46th birthday.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – FIFA’s ban on third-party ownership will start on May 1 next year, ending a practice that has gone on for years despite prompting widespread international anxiety over the way hundreds of transfers are conducted.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Marrakesh
December 19 – It led to the resignation of its author and involved months and months of chaos and confusion. But FIFA finally agreed today to publish what Sepp Blatter described as the “famous” Michael Garcia report into possible corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 19 – FIFA will publish the investigative report by its former chief investigator Michael Garcia into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that were awarded to Russia and Qatar. But president Sepp Blatter said there will be no revote.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 19 – FIFA will officially announce later today that it will publish the investigative report by its former chief investigator Michael Garcia into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that were awarded to Russia and Qatar.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 18 – The fallout from Michael Garcia’s resignation as FIFA’s chief investigator continued apace today as world football’s governing body met to consider their next move amid collective shock and surprise among the organisation’s top brass.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – FIFA was plunged into renewed crisis and confusion when its ethics investigator Michael Garcia sensationally resigned today in protest over the handling of his report into possible corruption during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – The two whistleblowers interviewed during Michael Garcia’s World Cup corruption probe have had their complaints that they were unfairly identified rejected by FIFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – The timing could have not have been more apt. Just as their top brass gather in Morocco for what could prove a pivotal executive committee meeting, so FIFA’s appeals committee has made an attempt to close another chapter in the seemingly interminable 2018 and 2022 World Cup corruption probe.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Strict new legislation has been passed in Switzerland aimed at fighting money laundering among sports officials by tightening up the scrutiny of bank accounts held by governing bodies such as Fifa and the International Olympic Committee.
By Mark Baber
December 15 – The quarter finals of the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday saw Kiwi semi-professionals Auckland City go through at the expense of African Champions ES Setif whilst Mexican side Cruz Azul controversially defeated Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers on a waterlogged pitch, thanks largely to some remarkable refereeing.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
December 12 – Another of the five senior officials being investigated over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process has protested his innocence and criticised FIFA’s ethics committee for spending so much “energy, money and time” on his case.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 12 – Vital talks over whether to publish the hotly debated report into possible corruption during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process will take place next week when FIFA’s executive committee is expected to vote on releasing a redacted version of the controversial file.