News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
US authorities are investigating corruption at FIFA, soccer's global governing body, while Swiss prosecutors have announced their own criminal inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 bids awarded, respectively, to Russia and Qatar.
Diego Maradona, one of soccer's most gifted players, said he was "enjoying" the spectacle of several of the world governing body's top officials charged with corruption after US and Swiss authorities announced investigations on Wednesday.
Prince Ali is one of five candidates standing to replace Sepp Blatter to try to lead FIFA out of its crisis.
UEFA president Michel Platini is not losing sleep over whether to bid for the presidency of FIFA in two years' time, he said on Friday.
Slush fund allegedly used to buy votes for the World Cup, claims report
Finds no cause to block Russia and Qatar World Cups
Swiss authorities are examining development grants made by FIFA around the world as part of their investigation.
Former FIFA official Jerome Champagne formally announced on Monday that he will stand against incumbent Sepp Blatter in next year's election for president of the world soccer body.
European soccer's governing body have asked FIFA to investigate the alleged distribution from their headquarters of an anonymous heavily critical 'dossier' on UEFA president Michel Platini, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.
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.
The World Cup will expand to 48 teams from its current 32, starting with the 2026 edition of football's showpiece tournament.
UEFA demand that FIFA presidential election be postponed
Suspended European football boss Michel Platini will resign as head of governing body UEFA after losing a top level appeal against a ban for ethics violations, but said he would continue his fight to clear his name.
The international skiing federation (FIS) has called on all winter sports governing bodies to oppose any plan to stage the 2022 soccer World Cup in the winter, fearing it will damage their own competitions.
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The 72-year-old, also an eminent Congress leader, passed away today after being in coma since 2008, when he had suffered a stroke.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the only major scheduled football event left unchanged after this year's calendar was wrecked by the coronavirus, has become the focus of fresh FIFA corruption allegations after the release of a new US Department of Justice indictment. According to the prosecutors, representatives working for Russia and Qatar bribed FIFA executive committee officials to swing votes in the crucial decision of world football's governing body.
Global football body FIFA has been urged by its own human rights advisory panel to give Iran a deadline for allowing women to watch football matches.
FIFA said on Wednesday it had fired General Secretary Jerome Valcke, once one of the global soccer body's most powerful figures, amid alleged corruption involving World Cup ticket sales.
German football great Franz Beckenbauer on Wednesday became the latest FIFA official named as under investigation, along with FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar and several other former executive committee members.
Kuwait, home to influential sports power broker Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, has been threatened with a ban by FIFA because of government interference in the running of the local football association.
In a statement, Zurich-based FIFA said the candidates proposed are: Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Hassan Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
The report said there was no corruption in bidding process. It criticised England's bid for the 2018 tournament for "inappropriate requests" from former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, a FIFA powerbroker at the time, in what it said was "an apparent violation of bidding rules". However, the report said ethics investigator Michael Garcia intended to open formal investigations against individuals, who were not named.
From selfies to fist fights, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
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.
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.
Kosovo is to be allowed to play friendly matches against FIFA member-states at club and international level with some limitations, world soccer's governing body said on its website (www.fifa.com) on Monday.
Former French football great Michel Platini, until recently seen as the man to lead soccer's governing body FIFA out of its worst ever graft crisis, could face a life ban from the sport if recommendations from FIFA ethics investigators are followed.
New FIFA president Gianni Infantino sent a clear message that his leadership style would be very different from his predecessor Sepp Blatter when he flew to his first official overseas appointment by budget airline on Friday.
World soccer's governing body, FIFA, is expected to pass wide-ranging reforms at a Congress in Zurich next Friday, when a new president will also be elected.
Bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was criticised by its own investigator.
US prosecutors on Monday made public their 2013 plea agreement with Chuck Blazer, revealing that the former FIFA executive committee member had been secretly providing authorities information for nearly two years before he admitted guilt.
Qatar has been given two weeks to provide a report to FIFA on how it has improved working conditions for labourers in the 2022 World Cup host nation.
The world soccer players' union, FIFPro, will urge its members to boycott the 2022 World Cup if it is played in Qatar's summer, vice-president Philippe Piat said.
New FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on his first full working day he still did not know what he would be paid as head of soccer's global governing body. The Swiss said he expected the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, delayed last year by a scandal which has engulfed FIFA, should begin in the next couple of months. The 2018 and 2022 tournaments, to be staged in Russia and Qatar, had to be the "best in history", he added. Speaking after an informal match with FIFA employees and guests, Infantino said he had still not discussed his salary following his election on Friday.
FIFA's disciplinary committee has banned Worawi Makudi, former president of the Football Association of Thailand and a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee, for three months for failing to comply with an earlier suspension, FIFA said.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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