January 27 – FIFA has confirmed as a formality the names of the five candidates battling for the presidency of football’s world governing body at the election on February 26.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – FIFA presidential candidate Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the emerging favourite to take over from Sepp Blatter, has intriguingly left the door open for a deal with rival contender Gianni Infantino to become his number two if he wins next month’s election.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale, increasingly regarded as an outsider, has been challenged by his own federation to explain his low-profile FIFA presidential campaign.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 25 – US investigators who have laid bare football’s worst ever corruption scandal are widening their probe to examine the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino has decided against taking part in next week’s Brussels forum on the future of football’s scandal-tarnished world governing body, leaving only three of the five contenders to tell a global television audience why they should be elected in succession to Sepp Blatter.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 21 – The divisions within UEFA over whether to back Gianni Infantino at the forthcoming FIFA presidential campaign have once against been exposed, this time by one of Europe’s most influential powerbrokers.
January 21 – Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has hit out at FIFA after he was left off the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or award and snubbed the recent ceremony in Zurich.
January 21 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are still being paid by FIFA and UEFA despite being unable to work because of their respective eight-bans by FIFA’s ethics committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 19 – Just over a month before the FIFA presidential election, Gianni Infantino has published his eagerly awaited manifesto, much of it either mirroring the ideas of fellow candidates or simply reflecting already-approved reform measures that are being put to the vote on election day on February 26.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – In a seemingly deliberate move to avoid being accused of conflict of interest, African football boss Issa Hayatou is distancing himself from his confederation while the FIFA presidential campaign gains momentum.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the FIFA-appointed Chilean who headed the inspection team that examined the credentials of all nine candidates for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, is to appeal against his seven-year ban imposed six months ago by FIFA’s ethics committee, saying he cannot understand why he has been treated so harshly.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – Negotiations are under way for the BBC to stage a live debate with candidates in the build-up to the FIFA presidential election on February 26.
By Paul Nicholson
January 18 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has accused rival candidate Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of trying to engineer a bloc vote for himself in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Asian (AFC) and African (CAF) confederations.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – FIFA’s presidential lobbying has been most active in Africa this week with three contenders – Gianni Infantino, Prince bin al-Hussein and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa – all present in Kigali, Rwanda, for the West Africa Football Union meetings.
By Bernd Fisa
January 15 – There was a touching and humbling backstage aside at the Ballon D’Or Awards earlier this week when Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar paid tribute to former Glasgow Rangers captain and Dutch international Fernando Ricksen.