By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 27 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter admitted today that preparations for the 2014 World Cup could be more advanced but said the country deserved to host the tournament and would end up proving critics wrong.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 26 – FIFA have given 25 Caribbean associations 48 hours to explain their role in the bribery scandal which led to Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam being banned for life.
By David Gold
July 25 – Hugh Dallas has settled a dispute with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) out of court over an email he sent which mocked the Pope.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 25 – As many as 15 representatives of Caribbean countries could now face investigation as part of the explosive bribery scandal that brought down Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam at the weekend.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 25 – Brazil’s Ricardo Teixeira, one of football’s most prominent powerbrokers, has launched a savage attack on the English Football Association, saying he will “make their lives hell” as long as he remains a member of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee.
By David Gold
July 25 – Following an exhaustive search by London 2012 Official Sportswear Partner Adidas for a name for the football to be used in next year’s Olympics, it has been revealed that it will be called “The Albert”.
By David Gold
July 25 – A riot in a São Paulo derby between Guarani and Ponte Preta has raised fresh doubts on Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 24 – Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam claims the life ban against him was an act of revenge for him standing against Sepp Blatter for FIFA President – and still insists he never paid bribes to anyone.
By Duncan Mackay in Zurich
July 24 – Mohamed Bin Hammam today continued to protest his innocence after being given a life ban for bribery by FIFA but the lack of support for him, especially from Asia, was deafening.
Just when Qatar thought it could turn over the page and move on in an atmosphere of trust and integrity, along comes another distasteful saga to give its 2022 World Cup preparations an unwanted headache.
First things first. Mohamed Bin Hammam’s lifetime ban from all football activities in Zurich had nothing whatsoever to do with his country’s landslide victory per se.
Bin Hammam wasn’t initially even in favour of Qtar going ahead and only aligned himself to the bid once it was clear the project was an immoveable force that had the support of those who pull the purse strings.
By Duncan Mackay in Zurich
July 23 – Mohamed Bin Hammam, the President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was today banned from football for life by FIFA, a decision announced by Petrus Damaseb (pictured), the acting head of the world governing body’s Ethics Committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 22 – Suspended Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam dramatically failed to show up for his eagerly anticipated hearing into FIFA’s worst ever bribery scandal, sources have now confirmed.
By David Gold
July 22 – Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım has denied to a court any involvement in the match fixing scandal engulfing Turkish football and has also told the club’s fans that he would be stepping down from his post after the conclusion of the issue.
By David Gold
July 22 – FIFA has announced that nine different goal-line technology systems are set to be trialled between September and December by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials, Science and Technology.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 21 – A former boss of Interpol now working for FIFA says struggling players from poorer nations are being recruited to rig results of matches in exchange for being promised lucrative contracts in Europe and South America.