The fight for the president of FIFA is hardly over.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/story...spension-053011

"As he is only allowed to appeal against the motivated decision by the FIFA ethics committee, he urgently requested this by Tuesday (tomorrow) to be able to file his appeal in due time and to revoke the provisional ban before Wednesday's congress is starting".

Bin Hammam is getting desperate and reaching for the sky now...

"I get the impression that the outcome of these proceedings had been defined from the very beginning as it has been made evident at the press conference on Sunday evening at which FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke showed his bias very clearly".

*It just keeps getting better, I want to skip to the end to see how this all comes out.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/socce...ver-fifa-053011

Lisle Austin, CONCACAF's senior vice president, said he sent Blazer a letter Monday asking the American for proof he was acting at the request of the federation's executive committee when he gave FIFA a file outlining bribery allegations against Jack Warner and Mohamed bin Hammam. Only the executive committee could authorize such an action, Lisle said.

He is just Jack's CONCACAF tool.


I could have sworn the English started this whole thing by saying they had proof of the 2018 WC bribes. That guy (the original whistle blower) has stayed quite so far (the Russian's have a way of influencing that kind of thing), and he has yet to arrange a meeting with FIFA Ethics Committee members, even after they asked to meet with him (all in Sunday's press conference).

It's starting to evolve now, the money is getting involved and is putting pressure on all of FIFA (the congress).

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/world...rruption-053011

Coca-Cola became the second major FIFA sponsor to express concern about the crisis at world soccer's governing body, describing the recent events as ''distressing and bad for the sport'' on Monday.

''The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport. We have every expectation that FIFA will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner.''

The soft drink giant's comments follow Thursday's statement from another long-standing FIFA sponsor, Adidas. The sportswear maker said the corruption allegations were ''neither good for the sport of football nor for FIFA as an institution and its partners.''

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/story...problems-053111

''Emirates, like all football fans around the world, is disappointed with the issues that are currently surrounding the administration of this sport,'' Boutros Boutros, senior vice president for corporate communications at the Dubai-based airline, said in a statement.

''The current situation is clearly not good for the game and we ask that FIFA take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised,'' credit card company Visa said in a statement.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/world...ustralia-053011

A day after an Australian lawmarker urged the federarl government to seek a refund from FIFA for the $46 million it spent on bidding for the 2022 World Cup, Murray said FIFA had an image problem.

''I think the reform has to be very deep ... there probably has to be complete structural and also constitutional reform,'' Murray was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Sydney Morning Herald. ''The structure of the organization at the moment is too political. Decisions are based on political motives, and that's not healthy for any organization. That simply has to change.''

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/world...-2022-world-cup

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke backtracked Monday on his claim in a private email that Qatar had ''bought'' the right to host the 2022 World Cup, insisting he was merely referring to the size of the Gulf nation's campaign budget.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/engla...ostponed-053111

''The events of the last two days, in particular, have made any election unworkable,'' Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan said in a statement. ''The integrity and reputation of the game across the world is paramount and the Scottish FA urges FIFA to reconsider its intentions, and calls on other member associations to consider the long-term implications for the game's image.''

The English FA had already said it was abstaining before the allegations emerged that led to presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam and fellow FIFA executive committee member Jack Warner being suspended.

England and Scotland would need to find support from 75 percent of the 208 members of the congress to bring about a postponement of the election.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/story/afc-leader-hits-out-over-suspension-of-bin-hammam-053111

'FIFA suspended bin Hammam but he is still the president of AFC,'' Zhang was quoted as saying by the China Daily, citing quotes from the Chinese news website Sina.com. ''FIFA has no right to prevent him from acting his role in AFC.''

The quote was removed from Sina.com's news article later Tuesday.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/story...spension-053111

Warner has been suspended from all football-related activity ending an inquiry into bribery allegations but has (now) been reported for breaching the terms of that ban.

Blazer said: "We have clear evidence of a violation of his suspension and we have reported that to the FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.


May 31,
"I have told the Asian delegates not to boycott the congress," said Bin Hammam.

Would that not also be against his ban?

It is the opening day of the 61 FIFA Congress.

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/news/newsid=1444336.html

They will now get back to their real business at hand.
The agenda:
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/bodies/01/42/93/05/fifakongressagendazurich2011%5finhalt.pdf

*One interesting side note from Sky Sports TV News today reported that the head of the England group at the conference is "looking into" an attempt to speak directly to the congress about postponing the presidential vote. He did not know whether he had any right to talk at the conference about this issue.

So what happens next in the FIFA presidential election? Only the shadow knows.
It could be an interesting night away from the meetings in Zurich. Not much time left for any election surprises.

http://www.fifa.com/congress2011/
Live stream of the 2ed day of meeting 9:30 AM CET (Zurich)/2:30 AM CST

Blatter will start tomorrow (late tonight CST) with his plan to confront and stop corruption.

* The important time in this meeting will be when the congress is asked to approve the agenda. It will be at that time that other members can get up and address the congress ( I think?), and then the congress can vote on those new issues brought up.

It nothing happens then, we wait for anything that might come up during the investigation into Glazer's accusations of bribery in the presidential vote. Once that investigation starts any info of other wrong doing found during the proceedings may spark further investigations of that bribery charge.

CONCACAF chaos after attempt to fire Blazer

CONCACAF reacted swiftly after its acting president tried to fire whistleblower Chuck Blazer just hours before FIFA's presidential election, telling the interim chief he did not have the authority to make such a move.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/world...no-power-053111

''This attempted action was taken without any authority,'' the statement said. ''Chuck Blazer continues as CONCACAF general secretary and with the full authority of his office.''