By David Owen and Paul Nicholson
February 6 – Sepp Blatter has given what will be interpreted as a clear hint that he intends to run next year for another term as FIFA President, speaking out against the retention of age limits for International Olympic Committee (IOC) members.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 5 – FIFA and World Cup organisers will be breathing a lot more easily after Cape Verde lost their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over being expelled from World Cup qualifying – in the process avoiding potential chaos next summer.
February 4 – FIFA believe they are making progress in an effort to break the footballing impasse between Israel and Palestine and improve the long-term problem of access for officials, competitors and equipment to and from the latter.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – Football’s law-makers are to study the idea of video replays, a controversial topic the FIFA hierarchy has long pledged will not be introduced as an addition to goal-line technology.
January 30 – Four Slovakian league players have been given worldwide bans by FIFA for their involvement in match-fixing this season.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 20 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter says neither the World Cup nor the upcoming winter Olympics in Sochi should be targeted for political purposes. He also reiterated the importance of the fight against social exclusion but that boycotting Sochi would be a “surrender” on this issue.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
January 20 – The first battle lines in the bid to become the next president of FIFA were drawn today when Jerome Champagne, one of the organisation’s most senior former administrators, officially announced his intention to run for the top job in world football.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 17 – In the latest move of an intriguing guessing game, FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he will decide before the World Cup whether to stand for a fifth term as head of football’s world governing body.
January 16 – The prospect of a women’s Club World Cup to mirror the men’s event has reportedly moved a step following the first session of the FIFA Task Force for Women’s Football, chaired by Moya Dodd, the Australian co-opted member of FIFA’s Executive Committee.
By David Owen
January 16 – Joseph Blatter, it is fair to say, has on occasion been slow to warm to new technology. When it comes to social media, however, the FIFA President is very much down with the kids.
January 15 – FIFA have extended their top-level sponsorship deal with credit card provider Visa until 2022. Visa will retain exclusive global rights in the Financial Services product category.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – FIFA’s main corruption-buster has warned that match-fixing criminals may try to target World Cup matches this summer. But says Ralf Mutschke, football’s world governing body will do all it can to make sure the tournament remains clean.
January 15 – FIFA has named an elite group to officiate in Brazil this summer. Included in the list is English referee Howard Webb, who took charge of the bad-tempered 2010 World Cup final, but has had an indifferent season in the English Premier League.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – Two new panels, one of ex-players and coaches and the other comprising officials and other experts, are to advise football’s lawmakers on proposed changes to the game. The two bodies are part of the reform structure being made to the International FA Board, the guardians of the rules of the game comprising FIFA and the four British associations.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – There were tears all round and heaps of respect as FIFA’s annual world player of the year award as expected went to Christiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s Portuguese star ending arch rival Lionel Messi’s four-year stranglehold on the prestigious prize.