FIFA named an African woman with no experience in football administration as its second most powerful official on Friday, part of changes made by the sport's ruling body to move on from a major corruption scandal.
IOC president tells FIFA it's time to clean up its act.
The official World Cup football trophy will be on display in India next April as part of a worldwide tour ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In a major development for Indian football and judiciary, world governing body FIFA has turned to Justice Mukul Mudgal, who has been appointed as deputy chairman of its governance committee.
Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after the only other candidate conceded defeat after a first round of voting in an election overshadowed by allegations of corruption in world soccer.Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after the only other candidate conceded defeat after a first round of voting in an election overshadowed by allegations of corruption in world soccer. Blatter's victory came despite demands that he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged the world soccer body into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. Neither Blatter nor Jordanian challenger Prince Ali bin Al Hussein got the necessary two thirds of the vote in the first round, with Blatter on 133 and Prince Ali on 73. Prince Ali later conceded. In a victory speech, Blatter declared: "Let's go FIFA, let's go FIFA," to a standing ovation. Speaking just before the vote, Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975, said he felt that he had only been with the organisation for a short time and wanted to stay longer. "What is time anyway. I find that the time I have spent at FIFA is very short," he said. "The more one ages the more time flies by quickly. I am with you, and I would like to stay with you," he said to applause.
Sepp Blatter was given a third term as president of world soccer's governing body by acclamation after standing as the only candidate at Thursday's FIFA Congress.
FIFA approved major reforms at a congress on Friday, part of world football's effort to end the culture of corruption that has plagued its governing body for years. The measures were adopted by 179 members, while 22 voted against and six abstained at a congress in Zurich that will also elect a replacement to FIFA's disgraced president Sepp Blatter. The reforms were developed since June by a committee led by Francois Carrard, a Swiss lawyer tasked with a similar cleanup effort at the International Olympic Committee more than a decade ago. Among the most crucial measures are changes in the role of FIFA's president and its executive committee. The president's job has been altered to function like a corporate chairman of the board, providing strategic guidance but with less management authority. FIFA's executive committee, which had become an epicenter of graft, has been re-branded as a FIFA council, and will operate similar to a corporate board of directions. FIFA's secretary general, previously number two to the president, will serve as world football's CEO.
FIFA's Status Committee will discuss the case of Tottenham Hotspur's Frederic Kanoute, Leeds United's Lamine Sakho and Valencia's Mohamed Sissoko.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he intends to talk with Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari, the victim of racist abuse in Italian football, and vowed to fight racist 'idiots'.
UEFA have postponed a meeting due to be held on Saturday to discuss the crisis at FIFA which led to Sepp Blatter saying he would step down as president of world soccer's governing body.
Canada, which is hosting the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, will not support incumbent Sepp Blatter in Friday's presidential vote at the FIFA Congress, the head of the Canadian Soccer Association said on Thursday on his official Twitter account.
- 'FIFA should have a leader with a lot of experience' -'Prince Ali is a good man, I work with him, I was a main supporter in the past, he is like my brother. He has a good future but I think he was in a little bit of a hurry. I think he needed to take the trust of Asia first before he earned the trust of the international community'
Sepp Blatter has told a Swiss newspaper he has not quit as FIFA president, adding to speculation he may try to stay on as head of world soccer's governing body that is gripped by a corruption scandal.
Some of the men who might be candidates for FIFA president.
The Russian Football Union's director general, Aleksandr Alaev, urged football fans from across the world to ignore "some critical remarks" on the country hosting the tournament.
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan's request for Friday's election to be postponed because of an issue with the voting booths has been rejected by sport's highest tribunal.
The victory celebration over, new FIFA president Gianni Infantino's first major decision in charge of the troubled world football organisation will be to appoint a secretary general, effectively a chief executive, to run day-to-day operations.
FIFA has told India's football association to complete changes to its constitution
The date of May 27 will go down as one of the worst days in the history of world soccer's governing body FIFA, former presidential candidate Luis Figo said on Thursday.
Running highlights from FIFA's congress. World soccer's governing body has voted on a series of reforms and will elect a new president later on Friday (all times GMT): 13.30 The voting process is proving a long, drawn out affair. After an hour's voting, we have crawled to L for Latvia with little to get excited about apart from the brief appearance of Davor Suker, Golden Boot winner as the top scorer at the 1998 World Cup, as he cast Croatia's vote. Time then for a reminder that for a candidate to be elected in the first round, he must obtain at least 138 votes, two-thirds of the 207 votes cast. If this does not happen, a second round is held. This time, a simple majority -- 104 votes, which represents more than 50 percent of the votes -- is sufficient for a candidate to be elected. If no candidate gets that majority, the one with fewest votes will be eliminated and a new round will be held. This continues until one candidate obtains a majority. 12.45. Having begun his speech by promising to "die with my boots on", Sexwale ends it by withdrawing from the race, "I have got a surprise for you. My campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. With only four people it is your problem now." Markus Kattner, FIFA general secretary then reminds delegates of the voting procedure, reminding them not to photograph their ballot papers.
The proposals outline what would effectively be a mini-World Cup, featuring eight international teams, every two years in addition to the traditional event.
Former Portugal star Luis Figo has announced his intentions to challenge Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential elections.
Interpol said on Wednesday it has issued international wanted-person alerts for two former FIFA officials including Jack Warner and four corporate executives at the request of US authorities as part of a corruption probe.
"If there are people who don't like the organisation or don't like me, they will realise they have been wrong... they will realise that."
Another wildcard has entered the pack of candidates challenging Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA in May's election -- Mino Raiola, a soccer agent whose clients include Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"I will use all my strength and inspiration until my last working day to bring this ship back into safe harbour," Blatter is quoted by Walliser Bote as saying.
Six months ago Gianni Infantino was a low-profile right-hand man to European soccer boss Michel Platini. He was the striking, shaven-headed character who pulled balls out of glass pots during televised UEFA competition draws. Barely-known by the general public, he was also the man behind a complex attempt to force Europe's clubs to reign in their spending, but which ended up leaving fans and even club directors confused. On Friday, Infantino was chosen as the new president of FIFA, a position which made his predecessor Sepp Blatter as instantly recognisable as some of the world's leading statesman. It was a remarkable leap for the affable Swiss-Italian. The polyglot lawyer only entered the FIFA race in late October, one day before the deadline, as a stop-gap candidate after Platini had been placed under investigation for ethics violations.
FIFA presidential candidate Luis Figo says he has no plans to quit his campaign.
FIFA president blasts critics, says salary not decided.
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan said that soccer's governing body has been "decimated" by the recent wave of scandals and that he has heard from "many member associations" in the last 24 hours.
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein said on Monday he would consider withdrawing from the FIFA presidential election race to allow a single candidate to challenge Sepp Blatter when the votes are cast at the FIFA Congress on May 29.
Xavi, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010 and is seeing out his career in Qatar with top-flight club Al Sadd, said 48 teams would not be the right option for 2022, however.
Prince Ali is standing against Sepp Baltter in Friday's election and although Blatter is strongly favoured to win.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has protested to football's world governing body about the number of observers allowed into the hall for Friday's election, saying he believed they were working for his rivals.
The news comes as little surprise as Sepp Blatter had dropped strong hints he would stand again and if he sees out his potential four-year term he will be 83 by the time of the next planned election in 2019.
Will it be Cameroon's Issa Hayatou or Spain's Angel Maria Villar?
The suspended president of the international football body believes only FIFA Congress can bar him, not the Ethics Committee.
Sepp Blatter, who will be 78 in March, hinted that UEFA president Michel Platini could succeed him even though the once-close relationship between the two has become strained in recent years.
FIFA denied on Tuesday that the top lieutenant of its President, Sepp Blatter, or any other member its senior management made $10 million in bank transactions.
Morocco has lodged a last-minute bid to host the 2026 soccer World Cup and will compete against a three-way bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada.
