By David Owen
April 12 – FIFA’s player insurance scheme has cranked into action, with payments totalling $18.4 million made to around 20 clubs in the latter part of 2012. The Club Protection Programme (CPP) is designed to compensate clubs when their players are injured on international duty.
By Paul Nicholson
April 10 – Brazil’s hosting of the Confederations Cup this June is receiving positive boosts form all sides with the opening of the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador being hailed as a major success and the news that 546,000 tickets have already been booked by fans.
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA’s recently-announced positive annual result of $89m for 2012 was achieved despite a striking 350% increase in the world governing body’s annual tax charge.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – FIFA have been quick to dispel any suggestion that Sepp Blatter has eased his hardline stance against racism.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – The match-fixing scandal that has rocked South African football because it directly involves the national team, is to be investigated by an three-man independent team – backed by FIFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – The last will be first and the first will be last may have biblical origins but FIFA have applied the exact same philosophy to its decision to hand the landmark contract for goalline technology at this summer’s forthcoming Confederations Cup to the German company GoalControl.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – FIFA’s reform process, designed to bring about proper transparency and accountability, continues to receive negative publicity, with one of its leading advisers now accusing the organisation of “neutering” the originally suggested measures for much-needed change.
March 27 – As the Ralf Willi cartoon pictured here says, the referees take this seriously (personally) as well. FIFA is running a series of seminars for prospective referees and assistant referees in April in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
March 27 – Costa Rica’s protest to FIFA over being forced to play their World Cup qualifier against the United States in a snowstorm has been thrown out on a technicality, a ruling that seems certain to incense the central American country.
March 26 – Russian World Cup organisers are planning to stage fan fests across the country during next year’s tournament in Brazil – four years before their own event.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 26 – The next Women’s World Cup will make history as the first major FIFA trophy to be decided on artificial turf – but leading players have been quick to express their disapproval.
March 26 – One of football’s most well known and influential figures, Michael Riehl, the Senior Vice President Global Brand and Sports Relations for adidas, died unexpectedly on Sunday in Germany at the age of 56.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 26 – FIFA are studying a demand by Costa Rica to replay last week’s controversial World Cup qualifier against the United States – played in a snowstorm. While Northern Ireland’s game with Russia was twice postponed because of adverse weather conditions, the CONCACAF qualifier went ahead with the USA winning 1-0 in Colorado.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 25 – Three of the four women chasing a spot on FIFA’s executive committee could end up sharing the top table of football’s world governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 22 – It was the briefest of interventions but it provided a telling insight into the tensions of the previous two days and the current state of play.