By Paul Nicholson
July 16 – The first of the seven FIFA officials to be arrested in dawn raids in Zurich at the end of May left Switzerland yesterday for the US, according to a statement from the Swiss Federal Office of Justice.
July 16 – Swiss authorities have begun questioning a number of the officials facing extradition to the United States for their alleged roles in the money-laundering and racketeering scandal that has rocked FIFA, according to unconfirmed reports.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 14 – In what promises to be one of the most eagerly awaited appearances of his 17 years in charge, Sepp Blatter is set to face the media next week for the first time since announcing he is stepping down as FIFA president.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 13 – Despite persistent claims by Russia and Qatar that their respective 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids were clean, the Swiss investigation into possible corruption linked to the bids has flagged up another 28 acts of possible money-laundering which have been received since June, bringing the total to 81.
By Paul Nicholson
July 13 – The Swiss Federal Office of Justice last Friday said that one of the seven FIFA officials arrested in the dawn swoop on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on May 27, had agreed to extradition to the United States.
July 13 – Just when you thought it had all died down, outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter and English FA chairman Greg Dyke have engaged in another unsavoury war of words.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 10 – Sepp Blatter has taken yet another swipe at his critics, once again distancing himself from FIFA’s damaged image caused, he says, by disgraced members of his executive committee for whom he insists he has no responsibility.
July 9 – Another interview by Sepp Blatter. Another passionate defence of his record and that of FIFA. This time, the embattled Swiss has blamed FIFA’s individual confederations for the corruption scandal that has rocked his organisation and led to him deciding to step down.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – The reputation of former FIFA and CONCACAF powerbroker Chuck Blazer reached an all-time low today when he was banned for life by FIFA for widespread corruption, bringing to end the career of one of the most colourful and controversial figures in football politics.
By Paul Nicholson
July 9 – Sonia Bien-Amie has broken new ground for women’s representation at FIFA becoming the first woman to hold a non-female designated post on the governing body’s executive committee, the top table of world football.
July 7 – FIFA has ordered Yemen to default a World Cup qualifying match against North Korea for fielding a player who was technically banned. Yemen, officially the home side for the match that was played in Qatar, lost 1-0 on June 11.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 6 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led the FIFA technical inspection team that evaluated the credentials of all nine candidates for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, has been banned from all football activities for seven years in what many will construe as the start of a new crackdown by world football’s governing body in the light of the corruption scandal that has rocked the organisation and led to Sepp Blatter’s decision to stand down as president.
July 6 – As the United States celebrated their first women’s World Cup triumph since 1999 amid euphoric scenes in Vancouver following their 5-2 thrashing of Japan, attention immediately turned to the 2026 men’s version which is due to be CONCACAF’s turn.
By Paul Nicholson
July 6 – FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb (pictured), currently being held in a Zurich jail awaiting an extradition hearing to the US on charges of corruption, has been hit by another arrest warrant, this time issued by the Cayman Island authorities relating to a healthcare fraud case on his home island.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 6 – Sepp Blatter has long maintained that politics played a part in the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. But now he has named names in terms of the supposed guilty governments: France and Germany.