By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – Any chance of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini making a triumphant fist-pumping return to football at Friday’s eagerly anticipated FIFA electoral congress were crushed today after their respective bans for breaking ethics rules were upheld on appeal.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 25 – An unholy spat that for a short while threatened to throw Friday’s election of a new FIFA president into chaos has been averted after sport’s supreme court as expected rejected a bid to call off the ballot from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
February 25 – The FIFA presidential voting alignments took an unexpected shift today with Brazil rumoured to be moving their allegiance away from UEFA’s candidate Gianni Infantino towards Bahraini Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 24 – Prince Ali bin al-Hussein says he will not pull out of the Fifa presidential race if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejects his bid to have Friday’s election postponed in the escalating row over voting procedures.
By Mark Baber
February 24 – President of the Libyan Football Federation (LFF), Anwar Al-Tishani has warned the country risks being excluded from international football if clubs do not rise to the challenge of resuming domestic league action.
By Mark Baber
February 24 – Barcelona have announced that they will be setting up a club academy in Lagos, Nigeria, it was disclosed at a meeting with Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman has responded immediately to an attack on his integrity by British Conservative member of parliament Damian Collins who used the legal protection of parliamentary privilege in the House of Commons to launch a series of accusations against Salman.
February 24 – In a welcome break from news on reform and political manouevring issues, CONCACAF has announced that it is using the quarter finals of its club showcase championship, the Scotiabank Champions League, “to promote social well-being through soccer”.
By Ben Nicholson
February 24 – Minnesota United FC are rumoured to be facing the possibility of changing their name because the MLS is concerned about the presence of three ‘Uniteds’ in the league.
February 24 – FC Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw at Juventus FC in the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final left the latter more spirited as they came back from a 2-0 deficit. Off the pitch, though, is another story. KPMG’s Football Benchmark team has found that Bayern significantly outperformed Juventus for the 2014/2015 season.
February 24 – Gianni Infantino says FIFA has no future unless it cleans up its image after Friday’s presidential election.
By Paul Nicholson
February 24 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al Khalifa has kept the FIFA political focus on financial issues to the front of the election agenda by repeating his belief that FIFA could not afford the $5 million per federation promise being made by Gianni Infantino.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 24 – The row over voting procedures at Friday’s FIFA presidential election has taken another remarkable step with Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein writing to the entire FIFA membership to explain why he has called on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to consider postponing the ballot unless fairness and transparency can be guaranteed.
February 23 – Shaikh Salman Bin Al-Khalifa, believed to be tied neck and neck with Gianni Infantino to become FIFA president, says rival candidates who have been criticising him are simply getting desperate.
By Mark Baber
February 23 – The Football Supporters’ Federation has called on clubs to create their own secondary ticket exchanges after a BBC Radio 5 live investigation found football ticket-touting laws are being flouted, apparently leaving fans vulnerable to online brokers.