By Andrew Warshaw
May 5 – The pressure on FIFA to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian impasse at next week’s Congress is being racked up – with factions supporting both sides calling for an end to the festering dispute.
May 5 – Nations from four different confederations will compete in the semi-finals of the Beach Soccer World Cup in the Bahamas on Saturday. A pulsating round of quarter-finals saw last gasp wins for Iran and Brazil, while Tahiti flew the flag vigorously for the world’s smallest nations and Italy put on the style for the bigger ones.
By Paul Nicholson
May 4 – The former senior FIFA development officer for Africa challenging for a CAF place on the FIFA Council has hit a roadblock with forces at FIFA and CAF hunting for loopholes in the rules to prevent him standing.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 4 – FIFA’s recently established 37-member ruling Council looks set to have its decision making significantly weakened under controversial proposed changes that are only now seeing the light of day.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Will they be replaced or given another mandate? Amid growing speculation that FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and chief investigator Cornel Borbely may not have their positions renewed at the upcoming FIFA Congress, confirmation has been made that the entire future of FIFA’s judicial bodies is up for discussion by the ruling Council that precedes the full session in Bahrain.
May 3 – With FIFA focus firmly on politics and scandal, you could be forgiven for missing the progress of the Beach Soccer Cup in the Bahamas which has now reached its quarter final stage.
May 3 – Sepp Blatter has not spoken in person to United States prosecutors in his native Switzerland despite his previous assertions to the contrary.
By Paul Nicholson
May 2 – After an investigation taking more than a year, FIFA’s investigatory chamber has referred Gordon Derrick’s case to the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics committee. The case is potentially one of the most controversial and politically laden decisions FIFA’s court will have had to make – though it has yet to rule against a single case from its investigators.
May 2 – The United Nations’ top human rights official has hailed Pescara’s Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari as an “inspiration” for walking off the pitch in protest after complaining about racist chanting.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, one of the first arrests in the burgeoning FifaGate scandal and still the highest profile figure to be indicted, has had his sentencing date put off for the fourth time since he pleaded guilty to racketeering and money laundering.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 1 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino is reported to be under fresh scrutiny over potential ethics breaches – at a particularly sensitive time.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 1 – Asian influence at the top table of FIFA has been thrown into uncertainty following the resignation of arguably the biggest figure in Asian sport, Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, from all his footballing roles, most notably membership of FIFA’s ruling Council.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 28 – World football’s corruption scandal has snared yet another high-profile culprit after Guam’s Richard Lai, a standing member of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, pleaded guilty in the United States in the latest twist to the ongoing probe.
April 28 – France has become the third country after the United States and Switzerland to investigate the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – The African race for a position on the FIFA Council has a new competitor. Former FIFA senior development manager for Africa, Zelkifili Ngoufonja (better known in football circles as Zul), has put himself and is campaigning on a platform of transparency, youth development and a good deal for Africa at FIFA.