By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 17 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has conceded that political interests as well as genuine footballing criteria were in part responsible for Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
May 16 – FIFA has announced the final sponsor partner in its World Cup programme, signing Centauro, south America’s leading sports retailer, as a National Supporter. The announcement was made by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke in Rio following a meeting of the local organising committee board.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Jeffrey Webb, chairman of Fifa’s recently established Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force, has issued his own scathing indictment of the Italian authorities for only fining Roma over last weekend’s racist abuse by their fans towards three Milan players.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 14 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has once again reacted to the latest incident of racial abuse by fans, denouncing the Italian authorities for being too weak and saying lessons have still not been learned.
May 14 – FIFA has extended worldwide a raft of bans imposed on eight players by the Estonian FA and one player by the Lebanese FA following matchfixing and fraud inquiries.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 14 – With goalline technology on the horizon, FIFA has selected the 10 referees for the forthcoming Confederations Cup in Brazil – with all of them in pole position to be sent to the World Cup next year unless they mess up.
By Paul Nicholson
May 8 – FIFA and EA SPORTS have extended their existing licensing agreement until December 31, 2022. EA SPORTS has exclusive rights to release FIFA-branded action and management videogames as well as the official FIFA World Cup videogame.
May 8 – Never mind if the Maracana will be open on time, it looks like the fans will be turning up whether it is ready or not. FIFA reports that tickets for the Confederation Cup are selling well with 71.2% of the total inventory for the tournament now sold.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – After a difficult week at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur, when its most prominent voice, Hassan Al-Thawadi, lost the chance to bag a place on FIFA’s executive committee, some good news at last for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup campaign.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – Special observers could attend matches in future with the specific task of weeding out the racists under strict proposals put forward by FIFA’s new anti-discrimination Task Force.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 6 – Chuck Blazer, the larger than life American who blew the whistle on the 2011 cash-for-votes scandal that prompted the biggest anti-corruption reform process in the history of FIFA, has now been banned himself.=
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6 – FIFA’s crack new anti-racism body was meeting for the first time today with a view to setting up concrete proposals for stronger sanctions.
As Task Force members gathered at FIFA headquarters, Kick It Out chairman Lord Ouseley urged them to come up with an effective package to put forward to the FIFA Congress in Mauritius later this month.
By Mark Baber
May 6 – David O’Leary has won a $5.2m claim before the FIFA Players’ Status Committee, following his dismissal by Dubai club Al Ahli FC in 2011. The sum represents the full amount due under his contract.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 3 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter, with typically deliberate timing, has re-opened the prickly debate over World Cup slots by promoting Asia’s case for more representation.
By John Duerden in Kuala Lumpur
May 2 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter congratulated Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa for his “brilliant election” victory to the Presidency of the Asian Football Confederation but not before cautioning that Asian football had to put its house in order.