By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 29 – The FIFA Ethics Committee hearing into bribery allegations involving three of football’s most powerful administrators got under way today amid speculation that at least two of them will be suspended and that the Presidential vote, scheduled for Wednesday (June 1), could be called off.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
May 29 – Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Dick Pound has given his backing to member countries breaking away from FIFA if there is no end to the spate of corruption scandals.
By David Owen
May 29 – FIFA’s chaotic Presidential election took a sensational new twist when the challenger, Mohamed Bin Hammam, unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy.
By David Gold
May 28 – Stan Kroenke’s takeover of Arsenal has been confirmed by the Premier League, and shareholders wishing to take up his offer for their shares have 14 days to accept.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 28 – Sepp Blatter suffered the humiliation of pulling out of the Champions League final today as pressure grew on FIFA to call off next week’s Presidential election because of the escalating bribery scandal.
Reform is the cry of the hour for FIFA. But, the question is: where does the reform start? It is not enough to open up FIFA in Zurich.
For real reform, we need to go to the heart of the organisation which extends beyond Zurich around the world. Without a worldwide fundamental structural reform, no amount of changes in Zurich will enable FIFA to come out of the crisis that has engulfed it.
By Duncan Mackay
May 28 – FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has promised a “football tsunami” during the next two days when he is due to appear before the Ethics Committee accused of corruption as the Presidential election threatens to turn into a farce.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – The phenomenal pull of the Champions League was brought into sharp focus today when it was revealed that tomorrow’s glamour final between Manchester United and Barcelona will be the richest on record.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam today rejected all the evidence against him as “without substance” and has repeated his assertion that the opposing camp are out to smear him.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – Next week’s FIFA Presidential election was plunged into total farce today when Sepp Blatter himself was dragged into the biggest bribery scandal ever to hit the organisation.
By David Gold
May 27 – FIFA has said that a friendly international between Kuwait and Jordan, which was held in the United Arab Emirates at the end of March, is under investigation for alleged match fixing.
By Duncan Mackay
May 27 – FIFA opened ethics proceedings against its own President Sepp Blatter following a request from his election rival Mohamed Bin Hammam, they announced today.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 26 – Manchester City’s Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure was banned from all football activities for six months today for failing a drugs test that kept him out of the game for much of the season.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 26 – Mohamed Bin Hammam fought back in the increasingly bitter FIFA election battle today by astonishingly calling for Sepp Blatter himself to be investigated as part of the spiralling bribery scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 26 – Startling new revelations emerged today over the chain of events that led to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of FIFA.