March 25 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke is back in Brazil for another series of trouble-shooting World Cup meetings, this time focussing on Sao Paulo, which stages the opening game.
By David Owen
March 25 – Unexpected costs last year forced FIFA to earmark an extra $70 million for the problem-plagued 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
March 24 – FIFA’s 2013 annual financial report has been released showing the governing body managed a surplus of $72 million on revenue of $1.386 million. 2013 was a record year for FIFA with income of $1.386 billion in the third year of a four-year commercial cycle linked to the 2014 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 24 – The two women co-opted on to the FIFA executive committee last year seem certain to stay on for another year – but what happens after that remains open to question.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter today sidestepped repeated attempts to force him to take a stand over whether Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup was in jeopardy following the publication of fresh corruption allegations.
March 21 – Jeffrey Webb, the chairman of the FIFA Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force, has sent a strongly worded message on the importance of embracing diversity and fighting discrimination. He also said that the Brazil 2014 World Cup is the perfect platform to make a powerful anti-discrimination statement and that the quarter finals will be dedicated to the fight against discrimination.
March 20 – Australian-born Croatian international Josip Simunic will definitely miss the World Cup after losing his appeal against a 10-match ban imposed by FIFA for discriminatory behaviour.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 19 – A key meeting of FIFA’s executive committee (exco) opens on Thursday with the latest on Brazil’s troubled World Cup preparations high on the agenda along with the thorny issues of Israeli-Palestine relations and workers’ rights in Qatar.
March 19 – Two English players have had life bans extended worldwide by FIFA for fixing matches in Australia’s second-tier Victorian Premier League.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – Qatar’s winning 2022 World Cup bid has been plunged into renewed controversy – just when FIFA are about to be given an update about the treatment of migrant workers employed on its stadium projects.
By David Owen
March 17 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is considering electoral reforms that would see the next elected President secure an automatic place on FIFA’s Executive Committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants clubs to crack down harder on flares and firecrackers in stadiums, describing those who let them off as “arsonists”and “pyromaniacs”.
March 10 – FIFA has called for expressions of interest in hosting eights of its competitions including the Women’s World Club and four editions of the FIFA Club World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 6 – The human rights issue in Qatar is back in the spotlight following the latest summit hosted by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Theo Zwanziger, the executive committee member mandated with maintaining the pressure on the 2022 World Cup hosts to reform their employment system and comply with international labour standards.
March 5 – Despite the myriad of problems facing the Brazil World Cup, FIFA President Sepp Blatter used this week’s 100-day countdown for the start of the tournament to try and accentuate the positive.