March 28 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke admits “time is flying” towards completing the final three stadiums for the World Cup and that the delays faced by Brazil should serve as a lesson to future hosts.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 25 – European Parliament officials believe Qatar is already making up ground to get to grips to with the workers’ rights issue that has plagued 2022 World Cup organisers.
March 25 – Not a fan of Qatar and aware of numerous potential and obvious downsides (debilitating summer heat above all), we have always kept an open mind about a World Cup in the Middle East, once the hosting rights were allotted.
March 25 – The mayor of Porto Alegre has warned the city may be forced to drop out of the World Cup if key legislation is not approved this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – Belo Horizonte officials say their stadium will be 100% ready for the World Cup this summer and have played down a recent leak in the roof just hours before a regional game.
March 21 – Adidas have agreed to supply the kit for debutants Bosnia and Herzegovina at this year’s World Cup finals, meaning it will sponsor nine of the 32 teams taking part.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – The debate over staging the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been stoked again by hard-hitting remarks in the United States from MLS Commissioner Don Garber who championed the ability of his own country to take the job on.
March 20 – FIFA is being urged by Amnesty International not to downplay the mistreatment of construction workers’ on Qatar’s 2022 World Cup sites when football’s world governing body hears an update on the issue at its executive committee meeting today and tomorrow.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
March 19 – Disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has dismissed the latest corruption allegations against him as “foolishness” and says there is a “witch hunt” against 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – Qatar’s World Cup organisers, buffeted by constant attacks about the country’s human rights record, have gone on the offensive by branding the latest report into the mistreatment of workers as a smear campaign “riddled with factual errors”.
By David Owen
March 17 – The head of Asian football has given his support to a modification to the World Cup qualifying system that would see the fifth-placed team in Asian qualifying play off against the top team in Oceania for a place in FIFA’s flagship tournament.
FIFA is happy that Qatar 2022 is building landmark stadia and infrastructure, but general secretary Jérôme Valcke says that while the debate on the issues has moved on, the construction companies and the Qatari authorities must ensure there are no more deaths
The World Cup is more than just a football tournament, but FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke says that while FIFA can support change in a country there is limit to what it can do, FIFA is not the UN, FIFA is about football, “we don’t tell a country its foreign policy”
Public demonstration can be expected at the World Cup, it will not be a surprise if it happens, says FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke. Plans are in place to keep Brazil safe for visiting fans and to create a lasting World Cup legacy for the country.
FIFA’s general secretary Jérôme Valcke says the Sao Paulo stadium isn’t ready for the opening game so FIFA isn’t ready. But that is not the point. Brazil will be a great success because there is no other choice, he says. There is no Plan B.