4 October 2010 - FIFA Grounds The Super Eagles

On 4 October 2010, just days before a scheduled African Cup of Nations qualifier, FIFA issued a worldwide ban against Nigeria, suspending them from participating in any football competitions. It was the second such ban received by the team in just over three months.

The suspension was the latest in a series of dramatic events that had hounded the team since their inglorious exit from the World Cup where, despite being tipped by many to make a strong run, they finished at the bottom of their first-round group and left having earned just a single point. Little more than a week after their last World Cup match, a 2-2 draw with South Korea, frustrated Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan issued his own ban, forbidding the team from participating in any international competition for two years, though he soon reconsidered and rescinded the suspension six days later.

In August 2010, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) held elections despite an alleged court order instructing them to postpone the voting. Shortly afterward, the National Association of Nigerian Footballers filed suit against the new NFF officers and received a Lagos High Court ruling that the elections were null and void.

That latest event was the final straw for FIFA, whose rules prohibit government intervention in the affairs of its members. In announcing the ban, FIFA stated that "During the period of suspension, the NFF will not be able to be represented in any regional, continental or international competitions, including at club level, and also not in friendly matches."

Following the announcement, the NAFC pledged to drop their challenge against the NFF at an upcoming court hearing. In response, FIFA lifted the ban provisionally, allowing the Super eagles to play their qualifier on 10 October (they lost to Guinea, 1-0).

8 June 1998 - FIFA Gets Blattered

On 8 June 1998, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter became president of FIFA, winning an election against Swedish challenger Lennart Johansson. Shortly afterward, rumors of corruption surfaced and continue to surround Blatter to this day.

He won the election by a vote count of 111 to 80 to replace outgoing president João Havelange, who had served since 1974. Johansson immediately raised concerns about the manner in which Blatter won the election. Then, only a few months after the election, British author David Yallop published How They Stole The Game, a book about FIFA that included allegations that Blatter's votes were acquired through bribery. According to Yallop, an unnamed Middle Eastern ruler distributed a total of $1 million among 20 FIFA delegates prior to the election in return for their switching their votes from Johansson to Blatter.

Blatter successfully sued to ban the book's publication in his home country of Switzerland, but lost similar legal battles in Holland, Germany, Austria, and Brazil. The Dutch judge who rejected Blatter's request for an injunction in Holland urged FIFA to conduct an internal inquiry, but Blatter dismissed the advice, responding "Why should I? I cannot open an inquiry into myself. The elections are now finished."

Rumors of bribery and other forms of corruption have followed Blatter ever since, including allegations raised before his re-election in 2002. Those claims went to a Zurich court, who cleared Blatter of any personal involvement. In the most recent election, conducted last week, Blatter ran unopposed after his challenger, Mohammed bin Hammam, withdrew in the face of charges of bribery raised by a FIFA ethics committee.

16 January 2004 - How Popular Is Women's Volleyball, Anyway?

On 16 January 2004, FIFA President Sepp Blatter drew criticism for suggesting that female footballers could increase their appeal by wearing, among other things, tighter shorts.

During a discussion on ways to improve the popularity of women's football, Blatter said "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball. They could, for example, have tighter shorts." He went on to say "Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men, such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?"

Predictably, the response from female footballers was not enthusiastic. England goalkeeper Pauline Cope remarked that Blatter "doesn't know what he is talking about. We don't use a lighter ball for one thing, and to say we should play football in hotpants is plain ridiculous." Fulham manager Marieanne Spacey pointed out that "Ten years ago, we did play in tighter shorts. Nobody paid attention then."

The incident was neither the first nor last time Blatter has received criticism. As soon as he took the post of FIFA president in 2002, rumors immediately surfaced claiming he had bribed his way to the office. More recently, he came under fire for saying that homosexuals worried about traveling to Qatar for the 2o22 World Cup should "refrain from any sexual activities" while there (see video).

14 October 1873 - The Father Of The World Cup

On 14 October 1873, future FIFA President and World Cup founder Jules Rimet was born in the French village of Theuley-les-Lavoncourt.

A lawyer by training, Rimet first got involved with football in 1897 when, at the age of 24, he founded a sports club on the outskirts of Paris and called it Red Star. Despite not being a footballer himself, he chose football as one of the sports to be played at the club.

After serving in World War I and winning the Croix de Guerre, Rimet became the first president of France's new football association, the Fédération Française de Football (FFF), in 1919. Two years later, he became the president of FIFA. At the time, FIFA had only a dozen members. By the time he retired in 1954, that number had grown to 85.

It was during his time at FIFA that he pushed his idea for an international tournament that became the World Cup. In recognition, FIFA named the first trophy after him.

He died in 1956, two days after his 83rd birthday.

FIFA Delegation Visit Valdebebas - Cristiano Ronaldo Support the WC Bidcris

The FIFA Inspection Tour visited Real Madrid facilities in Valdebebas this morning (31/8) to examine Spain's and Portugal's bid to host either 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kaka were greeted the delegation, before the two strikers getting back on their recovery exercises.

After their short visit, the expedition headed to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for a tour and lunch, and then visited other stadium. Later on,the FIFA delegation headed to the Spain's capital, Barcelona at 18:30.  And tomorrow morning they will visit Camp Nou and Conference Centre.

Their journey will end on Thursday with a visit to the Portuguese cities of Porto and Lisbon.

15 July 2004 - FIFA's Stock In England Hits An All-Time Low

On 15 July 2004, FIFA officially recognized China as the birthplace of football.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, speaking at the opening ceremony for the Third International Football Expo in Beijing, announced that the organization agreed with the findings of the Chinese Football Association who dated the origins of the game back to approximately 300 B.C. in the city of Linzi in the Shandong Province. At that time, Linzi was the capital of the Qin dynasty.

The ancient Chinese of that period played a sport known as cuju (literally translated as "kick ball"), in which teams from two to 16 people per side competed by kicking a ball stuffed with feathers and hair into small nets placed at the end of bamboo canes. The players could use any part of the body except the hands.

The game grew in popularity through the subsequent Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), which standardized the game and even used it as part of a military training program. In the Tang dynasty (618-907), when the feather-and-hair stuffed ball was replaced with an air-filled one, the sport's popularity continued to increase into all sections of society, including women. It also extended into Korea and Japan. Professional teams developed in the Song dynasty (960-1279) and the sport became strictly regulated.

Cuju began to decline in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Around 1900, modern football was introduced, leading to the creation of the CFA in 1924.

3 July 1992 - Welcome, Bafana Bafana!

On 3 July 1992, FIFA welcomed South Africa back into the international football fold after a ban of almost 31 years.

The Football Association of South Africa was founded in 1892, but was limited to whites only, due to the country's policy of racial segregation known as apartheid. In 1957, South Africa was invited to join the Confederation of African Football, along with Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan, but was expelled in 1958 over the other countries' objections to apartheid.

Also in 1958, South Africa was admitted to FIFA, but was suspended on 26 September 1961, again due to apartheid. Shortly afterward, FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous argued for South Africa's readmission, claiming that the suspension would irrevocably harm the development of South African football and that FIFA had no business in political matters.

FIFA lifted the suspension in January 1963, but reimposed it in October 1964. They formally expelled South Africa in 1976 after the Soweto uprising, in which South African police killed 23 protesters.

In 1991, as racial barriers in South Africa began to fall, the FASA was replaced by the integrated South African Football Association. The new association was admitted to FIFA on 3 July 1992 and, on 7 July 1992, the unified South African national team, nicknamed the Bafana Bafana (Zulu for "the Boys"), played their first match, defeating Cameroon 1-0.

28 May 1928 - The Birth Of The World Cup

On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to organize and stage its own international football tournament, which came to be known as the World Cup.

FIFA had previously been involved in organizing Olympic football, starting with the 1920 Summer Olympics and continuing in 1924 and 1928. It was the success of those tournaments that prompted FIFA, under the leadership of President Jules Rimet, to stage its own competition starting in 1930.

To host the inaugural World Cup, FIFA looked to reigning two-time Olympic champions Uruguay, for whom 1930 was also the centennial anniversary of their independence from Brazil. Unfortunately, the choice of Uruguay as host country placed a significant travel burden on the European national sides, leading only four - Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia - to participate. They were joined by seven South American teams and two North American teams to make a total of thirteen participating nations.

The first two World Cup matches were held simultaneously on 13 July 1930 - France defeated Mexico 4-1 and the United States beat Belgium 3-0.

That first World Cup concluded with host Uruguay successfully defending its world champion status from the Olympics with a 4-2 victory over Argentina in the Final.

17 May 2004 - Horse And Armor Not Included, Apparently

On 17 May 2004, FIFA President Joseph S. "Sepp" Blatter was knighted as a member of the French Légion d'Honneur by French President Jacques Chirac in a ceremony held at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Blatter was born in Visp, Switzerland in 1936. He began working for FIFA in 1975 as Technical Director. In 1981, he became the organization's General Secretary and then, in 1998, its President. He initiated several changes to football, including the elimination of the "golden goal" rule, in which a match ends immediately upon the first goal scored in extra time, in favor of the "silver goal" rule, in which the match ends at the first half of the extra time period if one team is ahead and, if tied, continues to the end of the second half of extra time. Also, after the 2002 World Cup, he eliminated automatic World Cup qualification for the defending champion.

Blatter has also drawn his share of criticism for making controversial statements, including the suggestion in 2004 that women footballers should wear "tighter shorts" and his 2008 accusation that Manchester United was engaging in "modern slavery" by blocking Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid.

The Légion d'Honneur was created by Napoleon Bonaparte to reward military achievements and other forms of service to France.