By Duncan Mackay in Rio de Janeiro
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
November 22 – Ruud Gullit has claimed that Holland and Belgium’s joint campaign to host the 2018 World Cup still has a chance of winning next week despite being the lowest ranked of the four European bidders.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 22 – The growing animosity between Qatar and the United States over which of the two should host the 2022 World Cup intensified today within the inner sanctum of FIFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – The United States is pulling out all the stops in an effort to prevent its 2022 World Cup bid being derailed by FIFA’s suggestion that there are insufficient financial guarantees to support the campaign.
By Tom Degun in Monte Carlo
November 20 – Sergey Bubka, one of the most influential figures in world sport, has accused London 2012 of going back on its promise to guarantee a legacy for athletics after the Olympics by short-listing a proposal from Premier League Tottenham Hotspur that would involve ripping up the track after the Games.
By Mike Rowbottom
November 19 – Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), believes that footballers – and supporters – have to be represented in the boardroom if the national game, and the future supply of young English players, is to be safeguarded.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted today his organisation was split over the severity of the penalties meted out to six officials caught up in the World Cup bidding scandal.
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So now we know. The conclave that will assemble next month in Zurich to decide where the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be played will be at most 22 strong.
Though some might think this appropriate – it is after all the same as the number of players who take to the field for a game of football – the suspensions of Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii will clearly reinforces the reputation for sleaze with which FIFA has long been saddled just as the attention of the world is once again about to descend upon it.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
November 18 – The head of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid team today welcomed FIFA”s decision to clear them of any vote-trading collusion saying he always knew they had done nothing wrong.
By Duncan Mackay in Zurich
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
November 18 – British Prime Minister David Cameron has invited FIFA vice-president Jack Warner to lunch in Zurich next week as lobbying for the 2018 World Cup intensifies, it has been reported.
By Duncan Mackay in Zurich
November 18 – Two members of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee accused of corruption were today prevented from voting in the decision to award the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 after they were banned for three and one years respectively by the organisation’s Ethics Committee.
By Tom Degun in London
November 17 – Andy Anson, the chief executive of the England 2018 World Cup bid, has hit out at the BBC accusing them of being “unpatriotic” in their plans to screen a Panorama documentary regarding allegations of FIFA corruption.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
November 17 – The most powerful man in Asian football insisted today that Qatar was still on track to host the World Cup despite an unfavourable assessment by FIFA but stressed the world governing body should “never again” vote on back to back tournaments at the same time.
By David Owen
November 16 – Qatar’s ambitious bid to bring the World Cup to the Middle East has been dealt a blow by FIFA inspectors, who have branded plans to play the competition there in June and July as “a potential health risk”.
By David Owen
November 16 – FIFA inspectors have criticised England’s 2018 World Cup bid for potentially exposing world football’s governing body to “excessive” hotel pricing and booking conditions.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
November 15 – The head of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has launched a passionate defence of his country’s campaign as the Gulf state readies itself for a verdict that could decide its fate two weeks before schedule.