Today, in Switzerland, corruption is only a crime when it involves state employees or – in the private sector – when it occurs in a competitive environment. This will change soon.
Last week, the Swiss government published a proposal to tighten their corruption law. Even though, officially, it does not target FIFA, it is clear that the new law is nothing else than a Lex FIFA.
Since 2006,
May 20 – With FIFA having concluded all its 2014 World Cup sponsorships last week with the announcement of Brazilian sports retailer Centauro as the sixth and final national sponsor, it has followed up swiftly this week with the unveiling of INTERSPORT as the Official Event Shop of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
By Mark Baber
May 20 – Mixed messages have been emerging over the last week regarding the controversial issue of allowing Saudi women to attend football games.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 20 – The timing could hardly be more embarrassing. Just days before the great and the good of world football roll into town for the FIFA Congress, the Indian ocean island of Mauritius – usually known more as a luxury holiday destination than for any major involvement with football – has been hit by a match-fixing scandal.
By Mark Baber
May 20 – In a deal estimated to be worth €25 million per season, newly crowned French champions Paris St Germain (PSG) have officially extended their shirt sponsorship deal with Dubai airline Emirates for another five years until the end of the 2018/19 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 20 – Activists from several European countries are planning to stage a rally outside this week’s UEFA Congress in London protesting against the decision to hand this summer’s European Under-21 championship to Israel.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 20 – Monaco are planning to take the French football authorities to court after being refused permission to rejoin the country’s top flight in a seething row over tax status. Although a self-contained adjacent principality, Monaco have been playing in the French league for nearly a century and were Champions League runners up in 2004.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 17 – FIFA looks set to be among a raft of international sporting organisations that will be subject to new anti-corruption laws under Swiss government proposals designed to make sure the country’s image doesn’t suffer.
By Mark Baber
May 17 – Singapore and Vietnam have both appointed new supremos for their national teams in advance of the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers.
By Mark Baber
May 17 – Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore (pictured) has prevented Football League clubs from passing measures to create a fairer level of financial competition in the Championship, leading to accusations of high-handedness from the ‘big brother’ league.
Cameroon certainly broke new frontiers, as the first African side, in 1990, to reach the World Cup quarter-finals – a barrier that no other team has gone past – as well as making the most appearances by the continent (six) at the finals tournament.
But the Indomitable Lions are a shadow of their moniker at the moment.
With the failure of the four-time African champions to qualify for the last two Cup of Nations in succession,
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 17 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has conceded that political interests as well as genuine footballing criteria were in part responsible for Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
By Gareth Messenger
May 17 – Javier Tebas, President of the National Professional Football League (LFP), believes that four clubs in Spain are in a frail financial position with two of them on the edge of liquidation.
By Gareth Messenger
May 17 – Eight Spanish Primera clubs have had their UEFA licence applications turned down by the federation for failure to meet the financial conditions required to play in European competition.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – English football is cracking down on racism from next season – but not as strongly as UEFA. Players found guilty of racially abusing an opponent will be suspended for a minimum of five matches, half the sentence UEFA says it will impose in its competitions.