Swiss freeze FIFA-related bank accounts on request of US
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – The Swiss Justice Ministry has frozen millions of Swiss francs related to FIFA as football’s worst ever corruption scandal took another unexpected twist.
FIFA
FIFA candidates lined-up for Brussels beauty parade
By Paul Nicholson
December 17 – Three of the five FIFA presidential hopefuls will parade themselves before a Brussels forum next month to be grilled on their manifestos and plans for football’s world governing body.
Sexwale says old friends will not influence his new FIFA, if elected
December 17 – FIFA presidency candidate Tokyo Sexwale says he won’t let previous loyalties stand in his way if he wins the vote on February 26 next year.
Blatter back at FIFA House to make his case before Ethics supremos
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – After protesting his innocence, Sepp Blatter was returning to the building where he has reigned for almost 18 years this morning to make a last-ditch defiant stand to save his battered reputation.
Platini refuses to play and will boycott FIFA’s ‘kangaroo court’
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – UEFA president Michel Platini has confirmed he is boycotting Friday’s FIFA ethics committee hearing which will determine whether he is banned from football and has to relinquish his bid for the FIFA presidency.
FIFA appoints Human Rights guru to form a global strategy
December 16 – With the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar under continuing scrutiny in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup, FIFA has appointed a United Nations official to develop a global human rights strategy for the organisation going forward.
Aggrieved Blatter claims Platini payment was cleared by all FIFA bodies
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Sepp Blatter says he is “bewildered by the insinuations and accusations” against him and that FIFA’s ethics committee has no option but to acquit him when he appears before them tomorrow to try and clear his name over the infamous SFr2 million payment made to Michel Platini by FIFA.
Defiant Blatter says he will continue to fight in letter to federations
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Despite being suspended over the infamous SFr2 million payment deal allegedly struck with Michel Platini, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has written to all 209 member federations proclaiming his innocence as he prepares for his pivotal hearing this week before FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
Nakhid loses CAS appeal and remains outside the FIFA election race
December 15 – David Nakhid, the former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder who was excluded from the FIFA presidential campaign on a technicality, has failed in his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the ruling overturned.
Swiss say there is no play to shut down FIFA, ‘currently’
By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The Swiss government has responded to questions over whether it plans to shut down FIFA saying that it was not “currently” considering a state intervention at FIFA but fell short of ruling this out as a possibility.
US prosecutors threaten to hit banks next in corruption scandal
By Mark Baber
December 14 – US prosecutors have used a leak to the Financial Times newspaper to pile pressure on the banks, central to the FIFA corruption scandal, to provide more information of use to their corruption probe.
Dutch/Belgian 2018 bid deny African lobbyist was vote-buying
By Andrew Warshaw
December 14 – The failed joint 2018 World Cup bid by Belgium and Holland, hitherto untouched by the corruption allegations that have struck at the heart of FIFA and its related confederations, has suddenly become unwittingly embroiled in the saga.
Jailed Napout agrees to US extradition and steps down at CONMEBOL
By Andrew Warshaw
December 14 – Just days after being arrested as part of the new wave of US justice department indictments in the FIFA corruption scandal and then suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee for 90 days, Paraguay’s Juan Angel Napout has tendered his resignation as president of CONMEBOL.
Horizons darken for Platini as CAS rejects his suspension appeal
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – Michel Platini’s hopes of running for FIFA president have suffered a potentially fatal blow, as has his entire footballing future, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) refused to lift his interim ethics suspension.
CAS readies for Platini verdict, evidence against Blatter questioned
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce its verdict into Michel Platini’s appeal against his provisional suspension at 10am tomorrow local time, giving the UEFA president just enough time to speed his way to chair the last session this year of his executive committee – provided he is cleared.