Entertainment

• Friday, January 22nd 2016 - 04:04 UTC

  Infantino secures backing from several European federations for his FIFA presidency bid

  

  Gianni Infantino has secured the backing of the German and Icelandic FAs and could end the week with significant support from Europe’s 53 federations after meetings in Nyon. The Iceland FA confirmed support on Thursday, with Infantino tweeting “Many thanks to the Football Association of Iceland for the support. Together we can take FIFA forward!”

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:31 UTC

  Dead fish and garbage in Rio's Guanabara Bay question Brazil's Olympic celebrations

  

  Thousands of dead fish washed up on the shores of Rio’s Guanabara Bay during the week, not far from where events are being held at this year’s Olympic Games, environmental officials said. The incident was the latest involving water quality in the bay, where sailing, open water swimming, and triathlon races are due to take place during the Games in August.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:25 UTC

  Tight budgets are forcing many Brazilian cities to cancel Carnival celebrations

  

  Cities across Brazil are cancelling carnival celebrations as increasing economic woes hit Latin America's largest economy. Local governments are citing tightened budgets, with lower tax revenues and more important projects in need of funding.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 12:09 UTC

  FIFA fines federations for homophobic remarks from fans, including Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

  

  Anti-gay chants by fans have led to fines for six football associations. Match reports revealed that fans of Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay yelled homophobic remarks during qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 05:48 UTC

  Rio mayor confident the city has the funds to host the 2016 Olympic Games

  

  The mayor of 2016 Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro insisted authorities had the finances to avoid disruption to the summer Games despite Brazil’s recession. Latin America's largest economy is suffering from a deep recession and soaring inflation -- a contrast to the boom times of 2009, when Rio won the right to host the Olympics.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 05:37 UTC

  Suspended FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke has been sacked

  

  “The FIFA Emergency Committee decided on 9 January 2016 to dismiss Jérôme Valcke from the position of FIFA secretary general with immediate effect. Jérôme Valcke is therefore no longer the secretary general of FIFA,” a FIFA statement said on Wednesday.

• Tuesday, January 12th 2016 - 07:10 UTC

  Messi undisputed king of the 'beautiful game': fifth Ballon d'Or

  

  Lionel Messi reclaimed the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world player of the year on Monday, after watching his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo walk off with the prize for the previous two years. The Argentine Barcelona forward finished ahead of Ronaldo and Brazil forward Neymar as he scooped the award for a record fifth time overall, having previously won it four years in a row from 2009 to 2012.

• Saturday, January 9th 2016 - 07:34 UTC

  Platini drops out of FIFA presidential race; Infantino and Ebrahim Al Khalifa, leading candidates

  

  Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini has withdrawn from the FIFA presidential race as he fights to clear his name following an eight-year ban. Platini was banned by FIFA's ethics judge in December over a “disloyal” $2 million payment he received from Sepp Blatter in 2011. It virtually ended his dreams of succeeding Blatter at the helm of FIFA in the Feb. 26 election.

• Friday, January 8th 2016 - 11:06 UTC

  Argentina and Uruguay will bid to jointly host 2030 World Cup

  

  Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez and Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri agreed on Thursday that their countries will present a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2030, a century after Uruguay was the site of the first tournament.

• Wednesday, January 6th 2016 - 12:10 UTC

  FIFA recommends nine-year ban from football for secretary general Valcke

  

  FIFA investigators have recommended a nine-year ban from football for suspended secretary general Jerome Valcke for seven alleged ethics violations. Suspended in September over allegations linking him to a 2014 World Cup ticketing scam, Valcke’s provisional 90-day suspension expires on Tuesday.