By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – Furious at FIFA’s explosive revelation that bribes were paid to secure the 2010 World Cup, South African authorities hit back today by accusing football’s world governing body of seriously distorting the facts in order to protect its victim status.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – The backlash against FIFA’s restitution request for tens of millions of dollars in order to restore its battered reputation and put it back on a financial even keel has begun with Ricardo Teixeira, the notorious former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), threatening to sue for damages in a counter action.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – The full extent of football’s worst ever corruption scandal has been sensationally laid bare by FIFA which is demanding to be paid back “tens of millions of dollars” pocketed illegally by a raft of disgraced powerbrokers who brought the organisation to its knees and have pleaded guilty in the US-led probe into widespread bribery.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – ‘Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned’ has a powerful resonance in FIFA’s restitution claim in the governing body’s submission to the US authorities. FIFA’s love affair with former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb ended abruptly with his arrest last May. But the fury was unleashed with full force in the letter released today to the US Attorney General’s office in the Eastern District of New York.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – FIFA has admitted for the first time that the votes for both the 1998 and 2010 World Cups were manipulated, casting further suspicion over whether the joint ballot for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, to be staged respectively by Russia and Qatar, may also have been undermined despite both countries insisting the process was entirely clean and no firm evidence yet to the contrary.
March 13 – Former CONMEBOL vice-president Rafael Esquivel, who pleaded not guilty last week to receiving bribes worth millions of dollars in connection with the sale of tournament marketing rights, has been placed under house arrest while he awaits trial.
March 11 – FIFA’s suspension of Kuwait, which caused the Gulf state to be banned from voting at the recent presidential election, has again hit the Asian World Cup qualifying campaign with the upcoming fixture against South Korea called off.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – Francois Carrard, the former Olympic supremo who led the team that drafted FIFA’s much-trumpeted governance proposals, has given his backing to Gianni Infantino in ensuring the reform measures are implemented properly and not just left to fester.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have reacted strongly to the police raid on the headquarters of the French Football Federation as part of the Swiss criminal investigation into the infamous “disloyal payment” that led to both men being banned by FIFA’s ethics committee.
By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – The call from interim FIFA president Issa Hayatou last week following the election of Gianni Infantino as the new president was for the whole of FIFA to unite behind him in impletenting the reforms and a bold and positive new future.
March 9 – FIFA has imposed worldwide bans on ”several officials and players” linked to match-fixing and illegal betting in Italy.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 9 – The Swiss criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter’s activities has taken a dramatic turn with the news that the offices of the French football federation in Paris have been raided at the request of the Swiss authorities.
By Paul Nicholson
March 8 – The investigation into the German 2006 World Cup bid is dragging in more big names with former FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi (pictured) the latest to be tied to the irregularities.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – Hiring more women to take on decision-making roles must be made a priority by new FIFA president Gianni Infantino if he wants to restore the organisation’s tarnished image. That was the message shouted from the rooftops at the second FIFA women’s football and leadership conference this week.
March 8 – Former World Cup referee Pierluigi Collina has lent his support to the introduction of video technology trials to assist officials, saying it will end years of frustration.