Former FIFA president and IOC member Joao Havelange has died aged 100. The Brazilian, whose name is one of those used for the track and field stadium for the Rio Games (Estádio Olímpico João Havelange), played a key role in bringing the Olympics to his country. He called on IOC members at the host city vote in 2009 to join me in celebrating my 100th birthday' at the Rio Olympics.
Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, announced his resignation on Saturday following the implementation of a new measure at the world football governing body, which he believes will “deprive [the committee] of its independence”.
FIFA has appointed Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura from Senegal as the federation's first female secretary general. She succeeds former FIFA No.2 Jerome Valcke, who was recently banned from football for 12 years for a series of ethics violations.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has ordered FIFA’s Congress to take all necessary measures to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a full member of FIFA as soon as possible.
The announcement by President Gianni Infantino of FIFA that it will establish an oversight body to monitor working conditions on World Cup stadium sites in Qatar shows that FIFA is beginning to take responsibility for those whose work is essential to the holding of the 2022 event.
Alfredo Hawit entered a guilty plea to four counts of corruption including racketeering, wire fraud and obstructing justice. The former vice president of FIFA and former interim CONCACAF president could face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count of corruption. The 64-year-old Hawit must also forfeit US$ 950,000 to United States Department of Justice when he is sentenced.
Uruguay's Juan Pedro Damiani has resigned from FIFA's ethics committee after the Panama Papers showed his law firm acted as an intermediary for a disgraced FIFA official.We can confirm that Mr. Damiani resigned from his position as member of the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee of FIFA, panel spokesman Marc Tenbuecken reported. The news was advanced by the Uruguayan media.
FIFA's Gianni Infantino says he is “dismayed” that his integrity is being doubted after he was revealed to have signed off a TV rights contract with two businessmen who were later indicted in the U.S. for bribery in FIFA’s corruption scandal.
FIFA peeled back another layer of secrecy this week as football’s governing body revealed for the first time how much money it was paying disgraced former president Sepp Blatter. The former FIFA chief, who was suspended with pay in October 2015 and later banned for unethical conduct, made $3.76 million last year. He did not earn a performance bonus but did pocket almost $450,000 for reaching 40 years of service at FIFA.
As it tries to reclaim tens of millions of dollars pocketed illegally by corrupt former officials, FIFA has admitted for the first time that ExCo members sold their votes to help South Africa secure the 2010 World Cup.