By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
January 30 – The deadline for applications has passed. But the political manoeuvrings and strategic mind games have only just begun. Welcome to another tactical FIFA election process.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – David Ginola’s unlikely bid for the FIFA presidency appeared to be on the brink of collapse even though his Team Ginola website insisted they were “still in it and fighting”.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has confirmed that he has submitted his bid to run for re-election a few hours before the deadline for nominations – but has not named the federations backing him.
January 29 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who has announced his decision to pull out of the race to stand for FIFA president against Sepp Blatter, has presented a full explanation of his reasoning.
By David Owen
January 29 – It has blossomed into the most densely-populated FIFA Presidential election for at least four decades. Yet for all the big names and razzmatazz it remains, to all intents and purposes, a one-horse race.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls became the first prospective FIFA presidential candidate to pull of the race to take on Sepp Blatter today – 24 before the deadline for nominations. On the same day Portuguese icon Luis Figo announced his was standing, Mayne-Nicholls told a televised news conference that he had decided against doing the same because he simply didn’t have the necessary credentials.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – Portuguese icon Luis Figo today become the latest surprise candidate – and the second ex- international player – to throw his hat into the ring to become FIFA president. The former Sporting, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan forward joins ex-French international David Ginola, very much a token contender, in a bid to replace Sepp Blatter at the end of May.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein has reacted with deliberate diplomacy to this week’s announcement by Dutch football chief Michael van Praag that he, too, is vying to take over from Sepp Blatter in May.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – Michael van Praag, the Dutch football chief who led a much-publicised European rebellion against Sepp Blatter’s leadership of FIFA last summer, emerged today as a surprise late contender to unseat the Swiss veteran at the presidential election in four months’ time.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – David Ginola faces disqualification from his unlikely bid to run for FIFA president for allegedly breaking strict rules over being associated with the betting industry.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – Any doubts about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being staged in winter look to have been swept away, with November-December now the clear favourite in a move that will break with decades of tradition.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – As the tension builds towards next week’s deadline for official nominations to run for FIFA president, one of the prospective candidates has given the strongest indication yet that he will pull out and instead support Prince Ali bin al-Hussein in the Jordanian’s bid to unseat Sepp Blatter.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – The FIFA official overseeing the presidential election process says the names of the candidates for the May 29 ballot may not necessarily be announced until several days after next Thursday’s deadline for nominations.
By Andrew Warshaw in Brussels
January 22 – Prospective FIFA presidential nominee Jerome Champagne has sought to play down suggestions that he is getting desperate in his bid to meet next week’s deadline for officially presenting his candidacy.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 21 – In the first of his ideas for developing football, unlikely FIFA presidential hopeful David Ginola says he would stage the men’s and women’s World Cup at the same time, Olympic-style, if he gets elected on May 29. The women would play after the men’s competition is completed.