By Andrew Warshaw
November 15 – The international players’ union FIFPro has raised concerns over the decision to stage certain matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup during the hottest part of the day in more tropical venues.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – All six venues slated to stage next year’s Confederations Cup – the dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup – have now been confirmed by FIFA though some will face a race against time.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup has come under fresh pressure because of new legislation that would seriously slash Rio de Janeiro’s revenues and therefore its ability to stage the tournament as well as the summer Olympics and Paralympics two years later.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke says time is of the essence to ensure Brazil is ready for next summer’s Confederations Cup, the traditional World Cup dress rehearsal, and warns there must be no “logistical nightmares”.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 1 – FIFA is to confirm next week whether it will have to drop any of the six venues being slated to stage matches at next year’s Confederations Cup, the traditional World Cup dress rehearsal.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – A star-studded FIFA panel charged with finding ways to make the game more of a spectacle in time for the next World Cup in Brazil has been disbanded.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 25 – FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke has returned home to Switzerland having been hospitalised in Brazil for four days with a kidney infection.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 22 – Match Hospitality, the exclusive rights holder of FIFA’s hospitality programme, says unauthorised companies are trying to jump on board to sell packages for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and has promised “Vigorous action” to protect its name.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 19 – FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke is the latest top-ranking official to succumb to the pressures and stresses of the job after contracting a minor infection in Brazil.
By Tom Degun
October 19 – Brazilian marines and paramilitary police have stormed one of Rio’s most notorious and dangerous slums in a bid to clean up the area before the city hosts the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
By Mike Rowbottom
October 17 – Rio’s doping control laboratory, expected to play a major part in Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has been reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following its partial suspension on January 18.
By Tom Degun
October 17 – FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke has expressed his concern that Brazil’s six stadiums for the 2013 Confederations Cup will not be ready on time due to the slow pace of preparations.
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference at Stamford Bridge in London
October 10 – FIFA is to implement a new ticketing resale system for the 2014 World Cup designed to avoid the large swathes of empty seats that plagued the London 2012 Olympics, and the 2012 UEFA European Championship finals in Poland and Ukraine.
By Tom Degun
October 8 – Eduardo Paes has been re-elected as the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil’s municipal elections meaning that he will hold the prestigious position when the country hosts the FIFA 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup, as well as the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
By David Gold
October 5 – The Brazilian Government has announced new criteria for ranking hotels and accommodation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Rio de Janeiro hosts in 2016.