Tokyo Sexwale withdrew from the FIFA presidential race minutes before the vote on Friday, announcing his decision at the very end of his candidate's speech.
FIFA chief Sepp Blatter often talks about being the head of the "football family" but if the boos that greeted his appearance at the Asian Cup final on Saturday are anything to go by, he is not too popular with his Australian cousins.
Key developments and reaction when world football's governing body FIFA elected Gianni Infantino as new president and voted in a series of reforms at its congress on Friday
Bracing up to organise the Under-17 World Cup later this year, AIFF president Praful Patel stated that this would be the next "logical step for the development of football in India".
Saudi Arabia's Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died on Friday and his half-brother Salman took over reigns of the world's top oil exporting nation in a smooth transition of power, calling for "unity and solidarity" among Muslims.
Factbox explaining how the voting system will work at the FIFA presidential election on Friday.
The Iraq Football Association (IFA) pledged their support for Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in next month's FIFA presidential election.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed a decision from soccer's world governing body FIFA to lift a ban on hosting competitive international soccer matches at stadiums in three Iraqi cities.
All India Football Federation president Praful Patel was elected on Saturday as a FIFA Council member. He is the first Indian to make it to the prestigious panel.
A definitive guide to the movers and shakers who sit at the helm of the Asian sports boom.
He was seen as one of former PM Rao's trusted aides and advisers.
Gianni Infantino opened FIFA's new museum in his first official act as president of football's governing body on Sunday.
Longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter is disappointed the global soccer body's appeal committee upheld his ban from the sport, he told a Swiss newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al Araibi, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and was later granted asylum in Australia, was arrested in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain's request.
FIFA has approved five candidates for its February presidential election amid the worst crisis in its history, after barring Liberia's Musa Bility on integrity grounds and leaving out UEFA chief Michel Platini while he remains under suspension.
Asian Football Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa inaugurated the refurbished Cooperage stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday and said hosting the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 will boost development of the game in the country. The refurbishing of Cooperage was done under FIFA's 'Win in India, With India' project.
"A clean break from the past is essential for FIFA to climb out of the toxic pit which continues to produce serious accusations of corrupt behaviour on almost a daily basis," FIFPro said in a statement.
Gianni Infantino's bid for the FIFA presidency with the aim of leading the world football body out of the worst graft scandal in its history was boosted on Friday when the Swiss lawyer won "overwhelming" backing from Europe's football associations.
'I am seeking the presidency of FIFA because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport' 'The world game deserves a world-class governing body -- an International Federation that is a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance'
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
The race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa is picking up steam and there is a scramble for nominations.
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini have lost their appeals against provisional 90-days bans by the global soccer body's ethics committee, FIFA said on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Selected quotes from Swiss Gianni Infantino's first news conference after the former UEFA general secretary was elected president of scandal-hit world soccer's governing body FIFA on Friday:
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 overwhelming feeling at the end of COP 27 was that despite decades of meetings and landmark accords, like the Paris Agreement, the world was still not doing enough to slow the climate crisis, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Banned UEFA president Michel Platini said he hoped to clear his name in time for the 2016 European Championship soccer tournament in June after attending a hearing on Monday to appeal against his suspension.
A stampede at a soccer stadium in Indonesia has killed at least 125 people and injured 180 after police sought to quell violence on the pitch, authorities said on Sunday, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne said that as head of soccer's governing body he would seek to move the 2022 Qatar World Cup from November-December to late European spring - a step that would please European associations by averting disruption of their season.
Sporting clube de Goa confirmed they have formally withdrawn from I-League 2016-17 owing to "strong objections" to the proposed road map by All India Football Federation and its marketing partners IMG-Reliance for Indian football.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter began his fifth term at the helm of football's governing body on Saturday facing the daunting task of restoring public faith in an organisation tainted by allegations of corruption and deeply divided over his re-election.
Nearly $1 million in funds from soccer's global governing body FIFA may have gone missing from Guatemala's soccer federation last year, according to sources and an internal audit seen by Reuters.
Crisis-hit world football governing body FIFA faces one of the most important days in its 112-year history when it elects a new leader on Friday hoping to usher in a fresh era after decades of tawdry controversy.
The vote on a critical resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has been postponed to Tuesday, as Colombo stepped up efforts to garner international support ahead of the voting which is being seen as an acid test for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
World soccer's governing body FIFA will proceed with an election to pick a new president on Friday to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter and vote on a set of reforms aimed at restoring its credibility after the worst graft scandal in its history.
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.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is a mere servant at the service of football, he said on Friday as he re-stated his intention to run for a fifth mandate in next May's election.
Highlighting the divisions, the former French diplomat pointed out that the top European clubs spend millions on players while Papua New Guinea's football federation struggles to pay air fares for its team.
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