Gibraltar's football association has announced it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after FIFA rejected its bid to become a member. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the FA of Gibraltar cannot be accepted as a member of FIFA because it contravened the world governing body's statutes regarding independent territories.
Asian Football Confederation chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has joined his African counterpart in officially backing Sepp Blatter’s bid for re-election. Last week Issa Hayatou and the Confederation of African Football executive committee “unanimously resolved” to support Blatter for a fifth term as FIFA president.
British actress Emma Watson drew hundreds of young fans on Wednesday as she visited Uruguay's Legislative Palace to promote women's participation in politics in her new role as a UN goodwill ambassador.
Former FIFA official Jerome Champagne has formally announced that he will stand against incumbent Sepp Blatter in next year's election for president of the world soccer body.
FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb has called for Michael Garcia’s report into the corruption-tarnished World Cup bidding process to be published. The CONCACAF president made his declaration at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester on Tuesday.
Sepp Blatter has confirmed he will run for a fifth, four-year term as FIFA president. Buoyed by a successful World Cup in Brazil and UEFA President Michel Platini opting not to stand in next year’s election, the 78-year-old Blatter believes he has the backing to win again.
The Guarani tribes that lived in South America in the 17th century used to play a sport similar to soccer when the Jesuits arrived to establish their missions, claims a video based on historical documents released by Paraguay’s Secretary for Culture. Entitled “The Guaranies invented soccer,” the video collects findings made by anthropologists who studied the Jesuits’ legacy in the country.
Gibraltar's competitive football debut ended in a predictably one-sided 7-0 loss to Poland on Sunday when the team predominantly made up of amateurs started 2016 European Championship qualifying.
Diego Maradona and Roberto Baggio were among a host of former soccer stars who played in an interreligious charity match backed by Pope Francis on Monday night. The Argentine pope, an avid soccer fan, did not attend the match but had an audience with both teams earlier in the day and also broadcast a message on the big screens at Rome's Olympic Stadium ahead of kickoff.
Soccer took center stage at the Vatican Wednesday morning when members of Argentina's San Lorenzo visited their most famous fan, Pope Francis, to share the joy of winning the Copa Libertadores last week.