Blatter-must-go, Blatter-must-go, Blatter-must-go – scream it long and loud enough and even supposedly intelligent people will forget why they think he must go while firmly putting themselves in the vanguard of political activism – perhaps even use their influence to write silly letters for a cheap soundbite, willingly published by the land of Murdochia. Come on Greg, we had so much higher hopes for you.
November 20 – England fans have been criticised, and the FA has apologised on their behalf, following provocative chanting during this week’s prestige friendly with Scotland.
November 20 – Real Madrid looks set to announce a naming rights deal for stadium after Florentino Perez was caught on camera saying the Bernabeu could soon be called the IPIC Bernabeu or Cepsa Bernabeu.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 20 – One of the two whistleblowers whose evidence to the FIFA 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid investigation was deemed unreliable has revealed she was contacted by the FBI after initially making her corruption claims against Qatar and says she permanently fears for her life.
By Mark Baber
November 19 – In a throwback to the Bernard Tapie scandals of the 1990s, French police swooped in on the leading lights of Olympique Marseille (OM) on Tuesday morning, arresting club president Vincent Labrun and general manager Philip Perez at their homes in Saint-Remy de Provence and Marseille and questioning them over potential corruption and kick backs involving multi-million Euro transfer deals.
Another clever delaying tactic deliberately timed so that Sepp Blatter can turn his attention to retaining the presidency without the distraction of corruption allegations? Or, just as plausibly, a clear signal of intent to try and repair the damage and get to the bottom of a saga which, it now transpires, could involve criminal activity by football administrators?
November 19 – Manchester United are now feeling the pain of failure to qualify for the Champions League in the boardroom. The club has announced a revenue fall of almost 10% (£9.8 million) for the three months to September 30 in comparison to the same period in 2013.
By Paul Nicholson
November 19 – According to Russian news agency Tass, scientists at Russia’s Siberian university have started building Russia’s first robot team.
By David Owen
November 19 – There was potentially good news for one senior FIFA figure in a strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement unveiled with a flourish in the Olympic capital of Lausanne on Tuesday. But not so, apparently, for another.
November 19 – The debate over how much English Premier League football should be televised live domestically is back on the agenda. UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has opened an investigation into how the Premier League sells media rights following a complaint from Virgin Media, which claims more matches should be available for live broadcast.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – Scotland’s former World Cup referee Hugh Dallas (pictured) has stepped down as head of referees in Greece just days after matches were suspended indefinitely following an attack on one of his colleagues.
November 19 – Singapore’s high court has rejected an application by one of the world’s most notorious match-fixers to review a detention order that has allowed him to be held for more than a year without charge, according to his lawyer.
The row that has erupted over FIFA’s handling of the much trumpeted Michael Garcia report on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup means we are once again seeing a re-run of what is now sports oldest soap opera: how shall we reform FIFA? It is not often that bad movies get so many repeat showings, even on a dank, dull, evening in Bognor. But then this is FIFA – an organisation where the past is not a foreign country but one that is always being revisited.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
November 18 – In another dramatic twist in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup investigation into possible corruption in the bidding process, FIFA has lodged a criminal complaint against a number of individuals (“persons”) with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in Berne.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 18 – Two whistleblowers who provided potentially incriminatory evidence to the FIFA World Cup anti-corruption probe are furious that their cover has been effectively blown and have both registered a formal complaint against FIFA ethics judge Hans Joachim Eckert.