Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, has placed heavy pressure on World Cup 2014 organisers Brazil, after witnessing the social unrest that accompanied the Confederations Cup during June.
Demanding better public services and angered by World Cup costs, about 100.000 people are expected at a protest Wednesday before Brazil plays Uruguay in the Confederations Cup semi-finals.
Inflation, slower growth, street protests over the increase in bus fares smacked full on at an ill-humoured Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff during the opening ceremony of the Confederations Cup in Brasilia when she was booed down three times and simply had to declare the event open.
Joao Havelange has quit as FIFA honorary president while Sepp Blatter has been cleared of misconduct in the ISL bribery case, a report by FIFA ethics committee said. The report described the behaviour of Havelange as morally and ethically reproachable in his dealings with ISL, FIFA former marketing partner which went bankrupt in 2001.
South American football president Nicolas Leoz has resigned on Tuesday from FIFA powerful executive committee on health and personal grounds. Leoz was accused by the BBC Panorama program in November 2010 of taking bribes in the 1990s from the now defunct sports rights agency ISL.
World soccer's governing body cannot battle corruption in the game alone and national associations must also join in, according to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. He believes all of FIFA's 209 member associations plus the continental confederations should follow its example by setting up independent ethics committees to investigate and punish any corrupt behaviour by their officials.
The Brazilian senate approved a bill Wednesday giving FIFA the guarantees needed to organize the 2014 World Cup. The approval came just a day after the Brazilian government met with FIFA officials in Switzerland to discuss the country's preparations and resolve their differences.
Former English football association chairman David Triesman has accused FIFA executive committee members Jack Warner, Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz and Worawi Makudi of asking for favours in return for their votes for England's 2018 World Cup bid.