By Andrew Warshaw
November 27 – The head of Brazilian football, Marco Polo del Nero, has finally bowed to the pressure and agreed to resign from FIFA’s Executive Committee after being a no-show for the last six months amid fears he could be caught up in the burgeoning corruption scandal.
November 26 – The list of the final 55 players who have been voted by their professional playing peers for inclusion into the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI has been released, with only two players not playing in European leagues in the list.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – ‘Watch-gate’, the much-published saga which blew up when heads of all 32 finalists at last year’s World Cup plus members of the FIFA executive committee, 65 individuals in all, were given luxury watches by the Brazilian FA to mark its centenary on the eve of the tournament, is back in the news – with an intriguing twist.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – Ethics officials have dismissed the suggestion that they do not have the power to remove Sepp Blatter from office – and reject claims that he has not yet received the report into their investigation against him.
November 25 – Manchester City and its fans may have escaped UEFA sanction for their persistent booing of the Champions League anthem before matches, but FIFA looks unlikely to so lenient with the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) who are being investigated for a second booing incident against China.
November 25 – FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne says FIFA should consider moving the 2022 Qatar World Cup closer back to the tournament’s traditional summer slot.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Sepp Blatter claims FIFA’s ethics committee, which he himself set up, does not have the power to remove him as president.
By Andrew Warshaw
24 November -FIFA’s much-touted reform package will finally be put before the organisation’s top brass next week amid considerable doubt about whether it will go far enough to help wipe out corruption.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will learn their respective fates over alleged financial misconduct by the end of December, FIFA’s ethics committee has confirmed.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – With public scrutiny intensifying over what he did and didn’t know regarding the alleged 2006 World Cup cash-for-votes scandal, Franz Beckenbauer, largely untouchable in recent weeks, is to be questioned on Tuesday by external lawyers in connection with the affair, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed he feared for his life when recently admitted to hospital in the wake of the deepening corruption crisis that has engulfed football’s world governing body.
By Samindra Kunti
November 23 – Belgium’s leading university KU Leuven has screened 35 Olympic sports federations on good governance. The report suggests FIFA is among the better run international sports federations.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini suffered a potentially crippling blow in their efforts to clear their names of any wrongdoing when FIFA investigators today announced they have officially called for sanctions to be taken against both men over that notorious SFr2 million payment.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 20 – Michel Platini has followed Sepp Blatter’s move in going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to try and get his 90-day provisional suspension lifted. Platini is rapidly losing the battle to clear his name in time to take over from Blatter on February 26 after both had their initial appeals turned down by FIFA’s appeals committee but the UEFA president’s lawyers insisted he has been untreated fairly.
November 20 – World Cup sponsors Adidas, who have taken somewhat of a backseat over the need for FIFA reform compared to their US-based front-line commercial partners, have now waded into the debate with a call for term and age limits on future presidents in the post-Sepp Blatter era.