Andrew Warshaw: In reform can we trust?
Under pressure and backed into a corner? No problem, let’s take the weight off our shoulders by setting up a Task Force, pat ourselves on the back, send it away and hope for the best.
Andrew Warshaw
Andrew Warshaw: FIFA’s shifting sands turn friends into foes in race for the summit
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. But if things don’t work out, I’ll willingly scratch someone else’s. Welcome to the world of shifting allegiances and alliances that have become the hallmark of footballing presidential elections.
Andrew Warshaw: African Cup goes from twilight to limelight in the Sheiky world of Euro politics
As he prepares to show his face on FIFA duty for the first time outside Switzerland since the sky came crashing down on his scandal-tarnished organisation, Sepp Blatter could be forgiven for enjoying a wry smile on the flight to St Petersburg for the 2018 World Cup draw.
Andrew Warshaw: Who will climb FIFA’s Alpine heights?
In a week’s time, FIFA’s new-look executive committee is due to decide on a date for the eagerly-awaited extraordinary congress that will elect a successor to Sepp Blatter after 17 often turbulent years in charge.
Andrew Warshaw: Careful what you ask for, or is Mayne-Nicholls just an ethics hors d’oeuvre?
When FIFA’s new chief ethics investigator Cornel Borbely took over back in March, he insisted he would not be influenced or sidetracked by anyone within the heirarchy of football’s world governing body when it came to making independent decisions.
Andrew Warshaw: The AFC’s secret world of transparency
At the beginning of April, in the wake of serious allegations against him, I interviewed Asian football supremo Dato’ Alex Soosay. The under-fire Malaysian was unequivocal: he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Moreover, the dark days of the Asian Football Confederation’s corruption-tainted past were over, he said.
Andrew Warshaw: Innocent until proven guilty? Does anyone care?
Let’s distinguish between the highly unlikely and the reality; let’s separate the hyberbole from the facts. Sepp Blatter made the right decision to announce he would be stepping down no matter how upset his legions of supporters in Africa and elsewhere might be. Root and branch reform is now needed at FIFA more than ever to eradicate the stench of rampant corruption.
Andrew Warshaw: The king is dead, but not quite buried
What tipped him over the edge? Did he walk or was he pushed? Is the net tightening around him in the United States as is being reported? Or was it simply that the sheer weight of pressure and the almost daily dose of bombshell allegations into systemic corruption simply became too much to bear – even for the great survivor?
Andrew Warshaw: FIFA’s Game of Thrones gets bloodier and uglier
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Andrew Warshaw: Final showdown of a suicide mission
‘Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.’ Chances are, Sepp Blatter will not be familiar with the lyric. Unless, that is, he is an avid follower of rock music.
Andrew Warshaw: Three weeks to go, but is three the magic number
Back in his comfort zone on the banks of the Dead Sea in his native Jordan, the Prince who would be king charmed the pants off visiting delegates and dignatories with his trademark mixture of humility and hospitality.
Andrew Warshaw: Fair play for whom? Just ask Enfield
Imagine the outcry if a leading English club was deducted three points just as it was about to clinch the Premier League title – for no other reason than being a victim of its own integrity and honesty.
Andrew Warshaw: The one that got away?
The politics of football have long been rife with allegations of corruption, hypotheses, behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and a fair share of proven malpractise.
Andrew Warshaw: Blatter escapes bruised but not battered from lion’s den
On the surface, sitting in the front row and surrounded by many of those who want him out, Sepp Blatter showed little emotion. On the inside, as the way he has ruled Fifa for 17 years was picked apart by the three candidates bidding for his job, he may well have been seething.
Andrew Warshaw: Crash and burn (theatrically), the new English way
He couldn’t resist. He just couldn’t resist. Just when it seemed Jose Mourinho had answered his critics by showing he could lose with good grace – we weren’t good enough, the better team won, congratulations to them etc etc – so, as the television analysts pointed out, he went and spoiled it all.