29 April – FIFA presidential candidate Louis Figo is heading to Bahrain for the Asian Football Confederation Congress, hoping to win votes with his platform promise of increased future World Cup final places for the AFC’s members.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 24 – FIFA have been quick to respond to a resolution tabled by a group of European politicians calling for a re-rerun of what they describe as the “illegal” bidding process for the 2022 World Cup which has been dogged by unsubstantiated corruption claims ever since Qatar won the vote by a landslide in December 2010.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 23 – A rightwing Israeli non-governmental organisation has stepped up the propaganda war of words over the treatment of Palestinian footballers in the West Bank and Gaza by blaming Palestinian football leader Jibril Rajoub for deliberately stirring up trouble.
April 23 – Palestinian football chief Jibril Rajoub (pictured) insists he will not back down from demanding Israel be suspended from world football until and unless the Israelis are seen to have totally lifted their restrictions on free movement of players and officials between the West Bank and Gaza.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 22 – A coalition of non-governmental organisations has written to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and the three candidates bidding for his job urging them to make tackling human rights a priority as soon as the May 29 election is over – especially when it comes to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit in Sochi
April 21 – FIFA President Joseph Blatter has sided firmly with Thomas Bach, his International Olympic Committee (IOC) counterpart, as the IOC boss came under withering attack from SportAccord’s Marius Vizer in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 20 – Israeli officials headed to Switzerland today to fight their corner with UEFA and FIFA in order to stave off a potential “day of judgement” with regard to their very existence as a footballing nation.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 14 – The Fifa presidential campaign swings into the Bahamas this week, with Concacaf the latest battle ground for those bidding for power on May 29.
April 14 – Ask two former legendary players from two different continents and you will likely get two different viewpoints on the upcoming FIFA presidential election.
April 13 – FIFA’s keenness to push the World Cup finals around as many parts of the world as possible has not been lost on New Zealand who are apparently eyeing up the possibility of becoming joint hosts with Australia.
April 10 – Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says the Ballon d’Or prize awarded annually to the world’s best footballer does nothing to improve the game’s team ethic.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – FIFA presidential outsider Luis Figo is disputing the claim that the whole of Africa will back Sepp Blatter in next month’s election.
April 9 – Sepp Blatter has given a strong indication that he will oppose a Palestinian bid to throw Israel out of FIFA. At this stage it appears Blatter is still hopeful of finding a mediated solution, despite the frustration of the Palestinians and the intransigence of the Israelis.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein insists the race for the top job in world football will be a far closer affair than most observers believe as he issued a hard-hitting manifesto in which he all but accused Sepp Blatter of running the organisation far too autonomously.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter is set to meet Palestinian football leader Jirbril Rajoub today to try and stave off a bid to suspend Israel from football’s world governing body.