By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – Any chance of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini making a triumphant fist-pumping return to football at Friday’s eagerly anticipated FIFA electoral congress were crushed today after their respective bans for breaking ethics rules were upheld on appeal.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – An unholy spat that for a short while threatened to throw Friday’s election of a new FIFA president into chaos has been averted after sport’s supreme court as expected rejected a bid to call off the ballot from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
February 25 – The FIFA presidential voting alignments took an unexpected shift today with Brazil rumoured to be moving their allegiance away from UEFA’s candidate Gianni Infantino towards Bahraini Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 24 – Prince Ali bin al-Hussein says he will not pull out of the Fifa presidential race if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejects his bid to have Friday’s election postponed in the escalating row over voting procedures.
By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman has responded immediately to an attack on his integrity by British Conservative member of parliament Damian Collins who used the legal protection of parliamentary privilege in the House of Commons to launch a series of accusations against Salman.
February 24 – Gianni Infantino says FIFA has no future unless it cleans up its image after Friday’s presidential election.
By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al Khalifa has kept the FIFA political focus on financial issues to the front of the election agenda by repeating his belief that FIFA could not afford the $5 million per federation promise being made by Gianni Infantino.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 24 – The row over voting procedures at Friday’s FIFA presidential election has taken another remarkable step with Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein writing to the entire FIFA membership to explain why he has called on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to consider postponing the ballot unless fairness and transparency can be guaranteed.
February 23 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al-Khalifa, believed to be tied neck and neck with Gianni Infantino to become FIFA president, says rival candidates who have been criticising him are simply getting desperate.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has called on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to postpone Friday’s presidential election because of a dispute over voting procedures which he believes could seriously jeopardise his chances of victory.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – First mobile phones and cameras were banned, then a request for transparent booths was rejected. Now, amid intensifying suspicion about voting manipulation, a complaint has been submitted by one of the five FIFA presidential candidates over the number of observers attached to rival teams being allowed to attend Friday’s showdown.
By Paul Nicholson
February 23 – The first concrete signs of dealmaking between candidates in the FIFA presidential election race became evident yesterday following a meeting between South African candidate Tokyo Sexwale and UEFA’s top gun Gianni Infantino, with Sexwale saying he is “open to negotiations and alliances”.
By Samindra Kunti
February 22 – FIFA is satisfied with India’s planning and preparation for next year’s U17 World Cup, but indicated that the hosts still need major renovation in the six selected venues to be compliant with international standards.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – The spending plans of FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino, which have already been questioned by his main rival Shaikh Salman, have come under further scrutiny, this time from election outsider Jerome Champagne.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – The sensitivity surrounding Friday’s FIFA presidential election has been racked up a notch after FIFA rejected a demand from one of the candidates to use transparent voting booths to ensure delegates do not photograph their ballot papers.