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12/31/11--15:34: Said & Done – the 2011 awards: Sepp Blatter, Gigi Becali and Larissa (chan 1614833)

The 2011 awards: The year's best quotes, scandals and club owners – plus Larissa's new year message

Man of the year

"Congress, today something marvellous happened – I am deeply moved and honoured. I will put Fifa's ship back on course in clear, transparent waters... It's a challenge, a new one for me, and I accept it."

• Best Sepp moment since his uncontested win in June: launching Fifa's "good governance road map" for "total transparency" six days before they sold control of Asian World Cup TV rights to his nephew. Fifa: "The president was not present when that decision was made."

Runner-up

Best newcomer: Bulat Chagaev – Chechen businessman who bought Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax in May, sacked all admin staff, four coaches plus a keeper and denies money-laundering, forgery, being an illegal alien and using armed men to threaten his own players. "I don't need guns to scare them. No regrets! I'm feeling good."

Best solidarity

October: The Premier League convincing Football League clubs to back the "elite player performance plan" – making lower-league academy boys easier and cheaper to poach – by threatening to withhold their "solidarity" money. Richard Scudamore said the process was transparent: "People voted for it because it's an excellent plan."

Most giving

£4.6m: amount Vodafone donated to good causes in the financial year, including football projects, "changing lives across the UK".
£8bn: tax Vodafone deny they avoided.

Still got it

1. The fit and proper person test: sized up businessman Vladimir Antonov's record in June – including a UK ban on his bank for providing "misleading information" about anti-fraud controls – then let him buy Portsmouth.

2. @Rioferdy5, executive producer of Brit gangland crime movie Dead Man Running, on the August riots: "Seems these kids/people have no fear or respect for the police."

Best employer

Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini: changed coaches four times before November, then attacked press claims he was "losing interest" in new coach Devis Mangia. "Why do people say I have problems with coaches? I'm calm. Mangia's calm. He'll be here three years." December: Sacks him. "I say to the fans: have some faith. I'm working like crazy here."

Best Gigi moment

April: Gigi Becali, Steaua Bucharest owner, issuing a series of Easter apologies to those he insulted, including a rival owner ("a filthy jerk, a fat gypsy") and gay men ("It's their disease, not mine"). Gigi said his purge made him feel "reborn … And it will make Satan crazy. He hates it when a soul gets cleaner."

Best Gigi impersonators

1. Vdravko Mamic, Dinamo Zagreb owner – staying cool when a reporter alleged fraud: "You lie and can't stop lying. You dirty monster, you never wash. Bastard, bastard, miserable bastard. I will beat you like a cat."

2. Louis "Loulou" Nicollin, Montpellier owner – "remorseless" after paying tribute to opponents Saint-Etienne in November: "They are pathetic imbeciles. They'll get theirs. What a bunch of dickheads." Nicollin: "I do what I want."

Best socialist

January: PFA head Gordon Taylor defending players using legal tax avoidance schemes, costing the Treasury £100m. "Any good financial adviser will tell players to make the best of their money … Every labourer is worth his hire."

Best social commentator

October: Dave Whelan, Wigan owner, on racism. "You've just got to get on with it. You know, I think players who come and complain, sometimes they are a little bit out of order." November: Whelan on spitting: "It has no place in football. It has no place in society. It is disgusting, a horrible thing. I was shocked."

Best endorsement

April: Fabio Capello on Silvio Berlusconi: "I voted Berlusconi before and I'll vote Berlusconi again. In Italy we have a problem with African immigration."

Bravest stand

21 September: Doncaster chairman John Ryan on fans criticising manager Sean O'Driscoll: "I've never responded to hotheads who want to sack somebody. Clubs who sack managers willy-nilly end up relegated. We're not going down that path." 23 September: Goes down that path.

Best PR attempt

26 October: Carlos Tevez is "hurt by insinuations he refused to play" for Man City, said his spokesman. "He feels his reputation has been damaged by that. It's been a very difficult time. But Carlos is back and will follow any instruction from City about training, who he trains with, where he trains and what time of day – he just wants to play football."
9 November: Carlos skips training, flies to Argentina.

Worst example

October: Zimbabwe – FC Platinum's Charles Sibanda fined £650 for "aggressively pouring urine" over Chicken Inn coach Adam Ndlovu. Newzimbabwe.com said Sibanda's "piss tantrum" was judged "atrocious" by officials. "It will not inspire confidence in youngsters."

Best defence

November: Argentina – Rosario junior league president Reynaldo Divonis, playing down concerns after an under-12s' post-match brawl ended with an uncle receiving "severe gunshot wounds". Divonis: "It's an isolated case. In over 3,600 games played this year, no one else was shot."

Saddest loss

Model Aurora Oliveira, on Italian TV in February: "I've had many Serie A players – all married – and foreigners, though not a black one yet. The issue is that footballers show such little respect, and some are far from beauties. So I am closing that door, and opening another. I am all about Formula One."

Plus: new year message

Larissa Riquelme's 2011 verdict. "I've come a long way. I was not born in a cradle of gold: I had to work hard for this good life, through smiles and sheer effort, and never had to do anything dirty. I've lived so many dreams, and have so many more. So I thank God, and I pray: let 2012 be even better."

David Hills

01/06/12--01:57: Swiss Football Association will not be suspended, confirms Fifa (chan 1614833)

• Fifa rules points deduction for Sion to have been sufficient
• Move ends Manchester United hopes of European reprieve

Fifa has confirmed the Swiss Football Association (SFV) will not be suspended, ending any lingering chance of Manchester United being reinstated into the Champions League.

The world governing body had given a deadline of 13 January for the SFV to take action against Sion for breaking a transfer embargo. That action came on 30 December, when they docked the club 36 points – three for each game in which one of the six illegally signed and therefore ineligible players featured.

"The Fifa emergency committee decided yesterday 5 January 2012 to consider the requirements established by the Fifa executive committee on 16 December 2011 as fulfilled by the Swiss Football Association (SFV)," read a statement released by world football's governing body. "The SFV will consequently not be suspended in relation to the Fifa executive committee's decision of 16 December.

"However, Fifa has requested the SFV to keep the international football governing body informed on any future developments with regards to this matter."

The ratification from Fifa means Basel will remain in the Champions League and ends any hope of a reprieve for United, who were knocked out by the Swiss side.

01/06/12--08:08: Fifa denies gifting TV rights to Jack Warner for supporting Sepp Blatter (chan 1614833)

• Warner was awarded World Cup rights for a minimum fee
• Fifa rejects claim this was a reward for backing Blatter

Fifa has insisted that the awarding of television rights to the former vice-president Jack Warner for as little as $1 had nothing to do with his support for Sepp Blatter.

Warner issued a statement last month saying he was a given the rights for seven World Cups for a minimum fee, and that "President Blatter sold me the World Cup TV rights for 2002 and 2006, no doubt in appreciation of the work I did (with Mohamed bin Hammam) for his re-election."

Fifa has insisted this is not the case, saying: "Such rights were ceded in order to provide an additional source of revenue for football development in the Caribbean Football Union. This had nothing to do with the 1998 or 2002 election campaigns, or with any other election campaign. To imply the contrary is completely false."

Fifa said all TV deals were approved by the marketing and TV board, the finance committee and the executive committee.

The world governing body said the "statement made by Jack A Warner … includes several inaccuracies and falsehoods" and that "until 1998 TV rights were provided by the rights-holders for symbolic sums in many territories (for example in Africa), in order to maximise the worldwide television coverage".

However, the Conservative MP Damian Collins, who is campaigning for Fifa reform, said the world governing body had failed to address key issues.

"They have not provided satisfactory answers to these questions at all, especially as to why TV rights to World Cup finals have been handed out to senior members of Fifa's executive committee," said Collins. "There is also no answer as to whether there was any auditing of the income from these rights to ensure they were being used for developing football rather than personal profit.

"This all highlights the need for a clear register of Fifa members' financial interests and that is one area of reform they have not even considered."

01/07/12--16:36: Said & Done: Fifa news; Lulu Nicollin; plus the player sacked for shopping (chan 1614833)

Fifa family latest; Lulu Nicollin on corned-beef eaters; Bulat's week; plus the player sacked for shopping

Man of the week

Benin FA head Moucharafou Anjorin: named on Fifa's U-20 World Cup committee, three weeks after his release from five months on remand on embezzlement charges. Last year Moucharafou, who denies wrongdoing, told Fifa's Congress why the Fifa family must always be there for each other: "Why do some want to kill Fifa? Do not let them divide us. We must applaud the president. Please - more applause."

PR man of the week

Croatia FA head Vlatko Markovic - asked about the latest arrest in Croatian football over alleged corruption. "You want my opinion? I don't give a fuck." Croatian FA clarification: "We have many times verified the FA's position and our support for the legal agencies. Everyone must take responsibility for their actions."

Best newcomer

2010: Leaked US cables describe Tajikistan's president Emomali Rahmon's style as undemocratic, ruthless, driven by greed and "family self-interest", a lack of transparency and built on "cronyism and corruption". 2012: Son Rustam named new head of the Tajikistani FA.

Victims of the week

Socialism news: The football agents' union - ready to take legal action against Fifa over plans to limit their income to a maximum cut of £1.2m per transfer. Association of Football Agents head Mel Stein told the Mail: "We will go to the courts to stop them if necessary."

Latest exits

1) 20 Dec, Nick Higgs, Bristol Rovers chairman, on manager Paul Buckle. "You have to give him time. You have to give a man a chance, you have to give him an opportunity." 3 Jan: Sacks him.

2) 12 Dec: Zaragoza president Agapito Iglesias – two weeks before sacking Javier Aguirre: "I have never doubted him. He is the best coach we could have, with his wisdom and experience. We will not separate from him. Not under any circumstances."

3) 27 Nov: Leonardo, PSG's sporting director, on Antoine Kombouaré. "Of course he won't be sacked, Antoione is firmly part of our plans. A lot has been written about him by journalists, but the squad knows the truth. The situation hasn't changed, and it's not going to." 30 Dec: It does.

Meanwhile

Montpellier owner Louis "Lulu" Nicollin says PSG were "fools" to hire Carlo Ancelotti. "I laugh at them." Lulu says Ancelotti will waste money on buying failed big names from Italy and England. "He will buy the ones he remembers from his days with the wops and the corned-beef eaters. PSG are subnormal."

Bulat's week

Switzerland: Xamax captain Stéphane Besle says being sacked by owner Bulat Chagaev for asking about the squad's unpaid wages "hurts": "I really didn't think my Xamax adventure would end like this. But in a way I'm relieved. I haven't slept for months."

Love news

Brazil: Santos president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro says he had to shut the club's women's and futsal teams to help fund Neymar's 50% pay rise to €15m a year. "Keeping him was an effort. It is impossible not to cut costs." (November: Neymar on why he stayed: "Because I just love this club. I'm like one of the fans.")

Progress news

Brazil: Palmeiras react to fans holding a "homophobia pride" rally after reports the club were in talks to sign Atlético Mineiro's Richarlyson. Palmeiras: "We have no plans to sign him. Richarlyson is a good athlete, but the difficulties with our fans are clear. We have history."

• 2007 – Richarlyson sues after a Palmeiras director incorrectly outs him on TV, telling fans: "Palmeiras will never buy a gay." Judge Manoel Maximiano Junqueira Filho dismissed the case. "The comments are fair; football is virile. Gays cannot play in normal teams, they should stick to their own. Each monkey in its own branch, each rooster in its own coop, each king in its own deck of cards. That is what I think, and I'm the judge, so I say it."

Captain of the week

Macedonia: Police say national captain Velice Sumulikoski, arrested and charged over alleged "drunk affray", told them he would "use his contacts" to have them all sacked, warning: "I own you … you are nobody and nothing." Police: "He said he could do it with one phone call. He was relentlessly offensive."

Legal news

Italy: Referee Gianluca Barbiero, cleared of "bad blasphemy" during a game in April by an eight-month-long disciplinary hearing. The commission ruled: "Barbiero admitted referring to the deity, God, but it is not proven that he added the bad adjective, pig... It was unfortunate from the official, but not injurious."

Shopping news

Argentina: Midfielder Ezequiel Carboni says being sacked by Banfield after he was photographed shopping for children's clothes at rival team Lanus's club shop is "sad". Carboni: "I love Banfield, but my kids love Lanus, so what can you do? I understand the decision. Life at Banfield would have been impossible."

Plus: the agenda

Romania: Steaua's owner Gigi Becali on his plans for 2012: "This year, I intend to not argue with anyone. God will like that." Becali said he plans to buy "3,000-4,000 sheep" and watch them graze to help stay cool. "I am hypersensitive. The slightest thing can affect me. But sheep, they calm my soul."

David Hills

01/09/12--12:03: Sir Alex Ferguson given presidential award for services to football (chan 1614833)

• Manchester United manager received award from Sepp Blatter
• Barcelona's Pep Guardiola named coach of the year

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was on Monday night given the Fifa presidential award for services to football.

The 70-year-old was presented with the award by the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, at the Fifa Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich.

Blatter said: "Elite football is all about results and winning and there is no one better at it than him. His first major success came at Aberdeen in 1983 but what is absolutely extraordinary is that in a world in which coaches are expected to produce instant results or be changed, his longevity is a shining example of what can be achieved through stability, continuity, investment in development and especially in trust and confidence in the personality himself.

"He has earned a knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen for services to the game. This exceptional personality in football has been managing the same club for 25 years – can you imagine that today?"

Ferguson said: "It is an honour for me in the twilight of my life and very, very much appreciated," he said. "I have been a very, very lucky manager to have had so many good players who have shared my vision and passion, and that's what makes Manchester United such a special club.

"They retain the courage to play, the courage to try and win. You don't always win in football – sometimes you lose but we always try to win."

Ferguson was beaten to the coach of the year award by Pep Guardiola, who in 2011 guided Barcelona to five trophies including the Champions League, La Liga and Club World Cup. Real Madrid's José Mourinho had also been on the shortlist.

01/10/12--01:41: Lionel Messi dedicates third Ballon d'Or award to Xavi - video (chan 1614833)

Argentina and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi gives his reaction after winning the Fifa Ballon d'Or award for the third successive year

01/10/12--09:33: The 'gay for Thierry Henry' outpouring heralds a new openness | Paul Flynn (chan 1614833)

After Henry's skilful homecoming, fans said they would 'go gay' for him. Isn't it time football bodies stopped playing it straight?

If Thierry Henry's return to the Arsenal playing field was evidence of the Beautiful Game fulfilling its mythological title, the fans' reaction was a surprisingly transparent testament to the Beautiful Man at the centre of it. From Twitter to the Arsenal Mania forum, an avalanche of online love showered upon the homecoming hero, echoing up and down the wire in the indivisible language of gay love. "Thierry Henry is a man I would turn gay for" was the oft-tweeted refrain; others declared themselves "lovestruck".

The outpouring of "gay for Henry" love that followed Henry's superb sporting display on Tuesday evening was not entirely surprising. British soccer is a unique duality – the national conduit for open displays of straight male affection and its closely related inverse, casual male violence. It is rivalled only by rock music as a forum for "acceptable" male admiration for one another. Totemic rock stars like John Lennon and Morrissey have long been subject to "go gay for"-type fan worship.

But this was something more. For an hour after the whistle blew on Tuesday it seemed like a corner of north London had been whipped up into enough of a euphoric rush to embrace the last demon of its parent association, the FA. The fans had inadvertently flipped the association's latent, exclusive attitude toward homosexuality on its head.

The relative anonymity of the internet can facilitate ugly language but here it seemed to allow for something quite lovely; a language that might be deemed unacceptable in more public forums. From behind the shroud of an online avatar a new openness appeared.

Maybe I was taking it too literally but the forcefulness of the collective thinking, that no greater compliment could be bestowed on a man than "going gay" for him, felt brand new. I'm not sure how as a gay man you are supposed to react to this outpouring of straight male affection but you would have to look very hard to be offended by it. Personally I found it all simmering with an appealing new texture for the culture around soccer.

The relationship between gay men and football has been a long-standing stumbling block in Britain's stealthy movement towards liberalisation. When Elton John took over as shareholder of his beloved Watford FC in the 80s he would routinely be comically abused from the terraces, name-calling he took in open, manful good humour. Graeme Le Saux, Freddie Ljungberg and numerous other Premier League stars have since been dealt weekly catcalls speculating on their sexuality. Justin Fashanu's heartbreaking early-90s coming out and subsequent suicide has cast a long shadow across the national game.

Yet perhaps there is a change afoot, led by the fans and one that the establishment would be wise to acknowledge. When I interviewed David Beckham for the cover story of the gay magazine Attitude in 2001, at the peak of his Man Utd tenure, he conceded that sooner or later the fractious relationship between the football establishment and homosexuality would have to be broken down. It was just a matter of time. His astute PR move of posing for the cover was a start, at least. He later appeared at the London nightclub G.A.Y, maximising his obvious gay appeal, and was greeted by 2,000 screaming gay fans who had composed their own football-ish chant by way of greeting: "Ditch the bitch, ditch the bitch, ditch the bitch and make the switch!" Straight men no longer had the monopoly on the brutal wit of stadium sloganeering.

More than a decade later the seismic shift Beckham predicted appeared not to have taken place. The British institutions of rugby and cricket now have their own open gay players, the former in the muscled omnipresence of former Welsh ace Gareth Thomas, greeted on the pitch after his coming out with open arms and currently undergoing the seal of celebrity approval of a stint in Big Brother, the latter in the quieter figure of England wicket-keeper, Steven Davies.

Yet league football seems to operate a No Gays Allowed policy. The body in control of British football operates an outmoded policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell when it comes to gay players. In response to the news that the 2022 World Cup was to be held in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, Fifa boss Sepp Blatter suggested jokily that gay fans might "refrain from sexual activities" if they wanted to enjoy the tournament.

If the fans are tantalisingly ready for a bit of open male love in football, we may have to wait a while until the institution is. The fans declaring their light-hearted willing to go gay for Henry are matched point-for-point by an institution still condemned to playing it absolutely straight for their bosses.

• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree

Paul Flynn

01/10/12--15:55: Fifa security chief says Premier League not immune from match-fixing (chan 1614833)

• Chris Eaton says 'corruption affects every level'
• Official cites 'anecdotal evidence' of player deaths

Fifa's security chief has warned that not even the Premier League is immune to the dangers of match-fixing. Football's world governing body will open a hotline for whistleblowers next month and has promised an amnesty to players or officials who come forward with evidence of fixing.

Chris Eaton, a former Interpol officer who now works for Fifa, told CNN: "No league, not even the Champions League or English Premier League, is immune to the problem and that corruption affects every level of the game. But it is not something Fifa alone can solve and governments across the world need to work together to fight back."

Eaton cited "anecdotal evidence" that some players had been killed and others had committed suicide owing to match-fixing.

"We are very concerned about the safety of players and officials," Eaton said. "There is anecdotal evidence that some players have been killed. We have evidence of players in South Korea committing suicide because of the shame of match-fixing. There are players who pay the ultimate price for resisting or for the shame of match-fixing.

"We certainly have information in some parts of the world of threats to players and most have indicated they are under some form of threat. Often these players are under the control of a senior player, or captain, or technical coach, and these are the people we need to support."

Corruption cases have hit Italy, Turkey and South Korea, while there are suspicions a 2011 friendly between Nigeria and Argentina was fixed.

01/11/12--06:17: Best selling games of 2011: Modern Warfare 3 outguns the opposition (chan 1614833)

Look at what's at the very top of the heap. That couldn't possibly be a Call of Duty game ... could it?

Well, is anyone on the planet really surprised? Industry trade body UKIE has revealed the top 10 best-selling games in the UK for 2011, and at the top of the heap is Activision's latest Call of Duty behemoth, Modern Warfare 3.

The title grossed £83m in its first week on sale in the UK – and, of course, went on to make more than $1bn worldwide.

The complete all-format top 10 for the year is as follows:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
2. Fifa 12
3. Battlefield 3
4. Zumba Fitness
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
6. Just Dance 3
7. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
8. LA Noire
9. Saints Row: The Third
10. Batman: Arkham City

It was a decent year for EA, then, with its profitable Fifa and Battlefield titles in second and third place. The surprise entry perhaps is Zumba Fitness, the critically mauled keep fit game that camped out at the top of the software charts through much of the summer.

Other than that, it's been a good year for big action adventures, with Batman, Saint's Row and Assassin's Creed all doing well. Despite its idiosyncratic format and some mixed reviews Rockstar's fifties detective drama, LA Noire, did well to sneak in at number eight.

But really, this is all about the Call of Duty brand, which has now held the No 1 slot for three years running – claiming it with Black Ops in 2010 and Modern Warfare 2 in 2009. Can whatever comes next from the series hold on in 2012 – especially with Grand Theft Auto V a possibility?

Until then, completists may like a look at the format-specific sales charts for 2011:

Nintendo Wii
1. Zumba Fitness
2. Just Dance 3
3. Just Dance 2
4. Mario Kart Wii
5. Wii Sports Resort

Sony PlayStation 3
1. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
2. Fifa 12
3. Battlefield 3
4. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
5. Assassins Creed: Revelations

XBox 360
1. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
2. Fifa 12
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
4. Battlefield 3
5. Gears of War 3

Nintendo DS
1. Professor Layton And The Spectre's Call
2. Pokemon White Version
3. Pokemon Black Version
4. Art Academy
5. Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo

Sony PSP
1. Fifa 12
2. Fifa 11
3. Motorstorm: Arctic Edge
4. Gran Turismo
5. Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Nintendo 3DS
1. Super Mario 3D Land
2. Mario Kart 7
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D
4. Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever
5. Rayman 3D

PC
1. Football Manager 2012
2. Football Manager 2011
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
4. The Sims 3
5. Battlefield 3

01/11/12--06:35: Sepp Blatter's former opponent seeks inquiry into vote-buying claims (chan 1614833)

• Lennart Johansson was beaten by Blatter in 1998
• Alleges: 'I hear that they bought some votes'

The man beaten by Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency in 1998 believes his election hopes may have been damaged by vote-buying.

Lennart Johansson, the 82-year-old who was then Uefa's president, lost to Blatter by 111 votes to 80. Blatter last year accepted there had been vote-buying at the election but vehemently rejected any suggestions that he was involved.

Johansson said that Fifa's public reputation was now so tarnished by corruption claims that it needed a full independent investigation into the range of allegations, including the former vice-president Jack Warner's recent claim that Blatter allowed him to pay only one dollar for World Cup TV rights.

Johansson told Bloomberg: "I think I'm entitled to talk about it because I was the second candidate at the election in 1998. I lost and now I hear that they bought some votes.

"For people on the streets Fifa is corruption, is bribery, things like that and they hear it year after year and nothing happens. I can't see how things like that can change."

Johansson claimed that Fifa executive committee members had turned a blind eye to the allegations, saying: "The question is why they stay under these circumstances. They don't like to talk about it. And the worst thing is it creates a lot of speculation about why they behave like this."

The 1998 vote-buying allegations were detailed in the 1999 book How They Stole the Game by David Yallop, who alleged that a Middle Eastern fixer working for Blatter procured votes by giving African delegates at the Meridien Montparnasse hotel in Paris envelopes each containing $50,000, supposedly as development money.

Blatter told a news conference last March, after being asked about Fifa's reputation being damaged by such allegations: "It's not easy to change somewhere where people started by saying you have bought votes in your first election.

"Who has bought votes in the first election? Go down to Paris in 8 June 1998 in the Meridien Montparnasse. I was not there because they expelled me from Fifa at the time, and then you will see who has bought votes. That was somebody … it doesn't matter now. You have just asked me as president and I have just explained before."

Blatter's reference to being "expelled from Fifa" was in relation to his having had to step down as general secretary in order to stand for president.

Johansson said, in relation's to Warner's claims about buying TV rights for one dollar: "We need to investigate Warner's comments for the reputation of football not to help Mr Warner. Mr Warner made us aware of really what's happened by telling us about it. Then if he's telling a lie that should be proved. We will see."

Fifa said that Warner's statement contained "several inaccuracies and falsehoods" and denied that he was given TV rights in return for supporting Blatter.

Warner resigned as a Fifa vice-president in June shortly after he and Blatter's presidential challenger, Mohamed Bin Hammam, were charged with bribery. Bin Hammam was banned for life in July but has lodged an appeal.

Both Warner and Bin Hammam were key supporters of Blatter in the 1998 and 2002 elections.

01/14/12--17:01: Said & Done: Fifa's Nobel peace prize; Gigi Becali news; plus the naked referee (chan 1614833)

Fifa's Nobel peace prize contender; Big Society latest; Gigi Becali on jihad; plus the naked referee

Man of the week

João Havelange – nominated for the Nobel peace prize for pushing a "social justice" agenda at Fifa in the 90s. João Ricardo Moderno, head of the Brazilian nominating group, says Havelange was "very pleased", "deserves it more than most", and denies taking up to $50m in bribes while in charge: "He told the group he never took money from anyone. He only ever did good for mankind."

Runner-up

2005: Fifa impose a "normalisation process" to restructure Uganda's FA after its president, Denis Obua, is jailed for fraud. Lawrence Mulindwa takes over unopposed. 2012: Mulindwa summonsed on three fraud charges. Last year's allegations of "neglect of duty, disobedience of statutory duty and common nuisance" were settled out of court. Mulindwa denies wrongdoing.

Big Society news

Last week's big signals to the football industry on tax:

1) An HMRC crackdown on tax avoidance by Premier League clubs – an industry expert revealing: "HMRC is determined to give football a good kicking." 2) Culture minister Jeremy Hunt offering public money to Premier League clubs to spend on their community work. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore: "I don't see why clubs' schemes shouldn't qualify for public money. Does it matter as long as it's right?"

Planet football

Brazil: Lawyer Rui Pimenta says his client, Flamengo keeper Bruno Fernandes, is "in good shape for a comeback" despite 19 months on remand charged with murdering his ex-lover, which he denies. Police say Eliza Samudio was strangled, dismembered and fed to dogs; Pimenta says Bruno's release on parole is "99% certain" ahead of the trial in March. "The boy's in good shape, training every day. The fans love him. When he gets out, Flamengo will have to take him back."

Last week's moves

• 30 Dec: Parma sporting director Pietro Leonardi: "Franco Colomba is a coach I respect and stand up for. There's no need to change, he knows how I feel: I don't see why I have to keep telling the newspapers. Colomba is our coach, and of course he should feel relaxed. He must." 9 Jan: Sacks him.

• 5 - Months before sacking Neil Warnock that QPR owner Tony Fernandes told fans: "In many ways we're very similar. I love his passion ... he's ever so infectious. He's coming to the end of his career and this is a chance to really build something. I hope he'll stay here for a long, long time."

• Plus – one to watch: Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini weighing up the benefits of new coach Bortolo Mutti – his third coach of the season – after their defeat to Napoli in Mutti's second game in charge. "My mood is black. Mutti made serious errors. Errors that will not be made again."

Owner of the week

Greece: Olympiakos president Vangelis Marinakis says he fined his squad €500,000 after they "played like the elderly" in their 0-0 draw with Doxa Dramas. "I and my staff struggle morning to night to pamper these players, and they do this. I couldn't sleep last night due to bitterness."

Gigi news

Latest on Gigi Becali's new year pledge to "calm my soul ... I intend not to argue with anyone in 2012. God will like that." 1) Calls St-Etienne's manager a "beggar"; 2) Says referees are thieves and calls for strike action; 3) Offers Dinamo shareholder and godson Cristi Borcea "jihad" over a transfer dispute. "He wants jihad? He can have it. You'll see who wins. If there's jihad to be had, I have it."

Journalist of the week

Italy: Serie D side Angelo Cristofaro say they banned striker Antonello Scavone after he punched a local journalist who gave him 4.5 out of 10 in a match report. Reporter Rocco De Rosa said Scavone also hassled him on Facebook: "He said I write shit. It was weird. I don't get paid much to do this – only a few cents a line - I just do it for passion, because I dream of being a sportswriter. But despite what happened, the dream remains. I'll take it as an experience."

Wife news

£7,000: Compensation demanded by a Colombian woman who says the wife of striker Carlos Bacca pulled her hair and broke her phone when she asked for a photo with the player. Bacca's lawyer says the claim won't delay his client's £1.25m move to Club Brugge. "We offered £350. I find it all absurd."

Respect campaign

June 2011: Brazilian referee Diego Pombo says he's pleased to win a beauty award, but refereeing comes first. "I will do modelling work, but not naked or in a sensual way. A referee must act seriously, to earn respect." Jan 2012: Pombo says an "intimate video" posted online is "saddening". "Yes, it's me. It's not meant to be public. I'm a victim of crime, of cowardice. I retain my focus."

Plus: Larissa

December: Larissa Riquelme says she's turning to politics for a new image. "It's time for a new direction. I feel such love from the people and in politics I can set an example to youth." January: Signs up to model Brazilian club América's new strip; tells the crowd: "If América can avoid relegation, I will come back naked! I adore Brazil!"

David Hills

01/17/12--10:34: Sepp Blatter and Fifa facing a moment of truth – or another whitewash | David Conn (chan 1614833)

Fifa's independent governance committee faces a defining decision on Thursday, whether to examine the organisation's past or ignore serious and credible corruption allegations

Football's world governing body, Fifa, could from Thursday face a watershed investigation into the corruption allegations lapping at its gates, or its Zurich HQ could be slapped with another coat of whitewash. The decision rests with the grandly titled independent governance committee, set up by Sepp Blatter, Fifa's president, to oversee the organisation's reform. Mark Pieth, professor of criminology at the Basel Institute, appointed by Blatter to chair this committee, told the Guardian that at Thursday's inaugural meeting it will consider an examination into what has been happening at Fifa.

"It is a matter for the independent governance committee to decide whether it is going to call for a fuller investigation into the past," Pieth said, "and who should be conducting it."

That will be a defining decision for a process that has struggled to attain any credibility since Blatter unveiled it in October, as the lead vehicle in what the 75-year-old termed his road map for reform. The anti‑corruption organisation Transparency International, whose co-operation in charting the road map was liberally name-dropped by Blatter at that unveiling, initially praised the initiative but then refused an invitation to sit on the committee. Sylvia Schenk, TI's senior adviser for sport, questioned Pieth's independence from Fifa, because Fifa has already paid his institute, reportedly CHF120,000 (£85,000), for writing a preparatory report, Governing Fifa. Schenk also reiterated TI's recommendation in its own report that any reform must begin with an investigation and genuine clean-up of the governing body's past.

The independent governance committee's principal duty, as explained by Blatter and set out by Pieth, is to revise Fifa's internal rules and systems into something approaching the standards required by an organisation that runs the world's most played and watched sport and has billions of pounds washing through it. Fifa, still dug into its bunker-like head office on a hill above Zurich, turned over $4.2bn (£2.7bn) between 2007 and 2010, yet enjoys the tax-free status of a nonprofit‑making body in Switzerland, and has national football associations and governments, including Britain's up to December 2010, fawning over it for the chance to host the World Cup.

Since the English FA spent £21m, including £3m from hard‑pressed local authorities, wooing Fifa in return for only one vote (besides that of England's Geoff Thompson) to host the 2018 World Cup, the dyke has burst on a flood of Fifa corruption stories. Seven members of Fifa's executive committee – its most senior decision‑making body, which awards the World Cup – have faced serious allegations, finally and most recently including Blatter himself. Yet the differing official reaction by Fifa to the allegations, with Blatter's rivals banned for life but no investigation even started into him, has itself illustrated a core fault line in the organisation's credibility.

Blatter was accused last month by Jack Warner, his former ally and the long‑serving president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, of giving to him personally the television rights for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups effectively for nothing, as thanks for supporting Blatter's election as president in 1998 and subsequently. Any investigation by Fifa's ethics committee has to be initiated by Blatter himself, the secretary-general, Jérôme Valcke or the executive committee as a whole, and no investigation or reference to the ethics committee followed Warner's remarkable allegation against Blatter. Warner was not interviewed by anybody. Instead Fifa simply issued a statement rejecting his claim.

The only members of the executive committee to feel the full force of Fifa's ethics committee have been Mohamed bin Hammam, just before the vote in which he was challenging Blatter for the presidency, and Warner, said to be present when Bin Hammam allegedly handed $40,000 in cash to Caribbean Football Union members. Bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy just before Fifa banned him for life from football activities, leaving Blatter as the sole candidate in the election. He won it. Warner, deeply resentful and threatening a "tsunami" of accusations against Blatter and Fifa, resigned before the ethics committee concluded its case against him. Bin Hammam is currently appealing his case to the court of arbitration for sport.

In December 2010 the BBC's Panorama programme alleged that in the 1990s three members of the executive committee were paid huge bribes as Fifa decision‑makers from the marketing company ISL. The trio were Nicolás Leoz of Paraguay, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil and Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, with the former Fifa president João Havelange, Blatter's mentor, also named. The International Olympic Committee, of which Hayatou is also a member, has reprimanded him, finding that the cash, CHF24,700, was indeed paid, on 15 February 1995. Hayatou had said it was a donation to the Confederation of African Football's 40th anniversary and produced as proof minutes of a 1998 meeting and a certificate dated 25 March 2011, 16 years later. Fifa has taken no action against anybody in relation to ISL, and all have denied taking bribes. Fifa confidentially settled a case brought by prosecutors in the Swiss canton of Zug, then made legal efforts to prevent the settlement's publication.

Under severe pressure in the rising tide of murk Blatter announced upon his re-election in June a "committee of the solutions", possibly including the former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and the opera singer Plácido Domingo; that was subsequently redrafted into the independent governance committee, with Pieth in the chair. There has been no general commitment from Blatter to investigate serious and credible corruption allegations, except that in October he announced the executive committee had made a U-turn on the ISL settlement and now wants it published.

This inconsistent response, and Blatter's recent emphasis on "putting the past to bed", has reinforced for many a sense of him clinging to his position at Fifa by means of his road map, not genuinely wanting to root out alleged wrongdoing during his presidency. The $100m ISL bribes are alleged to have been paid between 1989 and 1999, mostly not while Blatter was president, so the settlement is thought not to implicate him directly. Schenk, of Transparency International, said a full investigation is vital if faith in Fifa is to be established. "You cannot go into the future and have credibility if you have many allegations about Fifa and senior people still there," she says.

Schenk explains how an organisation with a genuine will to reform would conduct such a process: "You appoint a body to conduct the investigation, for example a specialist law firm. They would look at the serious allegations and invite people to come forward confidentially with evidence. Then they would review which allegations are serious, and which evidence credible, for full investigation. Now you can say the ISL allegations are serious, as are those about Sepp Blatter's election."

Pieth's own report said the World Cup bidding process is open to "corruption, risk and conflict of interest concerns". Schenk says an investigation ought certainly to include the circumstances of awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively, and, she said, the 2006 event to Germany. "If you do not clear the allegations over such important matters, there can be no credibility for the future and there will be no peace for Fifa."

David Conn

01/19/12--14:13: Fifa official criticises Brazil's slow preparations for 2014 World Cup (chan 1614833)

• Not a single stadium is ready, says general secretary Valcke
• Fifa pushing for Budweiser to be able to sell beer at grounds

Fifa's secretary general has again criticised Brazil for being behind schedule in its stadium preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

Jérôme Valcke said on Thursday: "There is not a single stadium ready today." He added that beer must be allowed at matches, despite Brazilian law prohibiting beer sales at games.

Valcke spoke alongside the retired Brazil great Ronaldo and the Brazilian sports minister, Aldo Rebelo, following visits to two of the host cities, Fortaleza and Salvador. Ronaldo, the newest member of the local organising committee, said he was confident the stadiums would be ready on time.

Brazil's World Cup will be played in 12 far-flung venues, including a 44,000-seat stadium being built in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus. All 12 cities will host at least four matches, triggering concerns about travel in the massive nation, whose ailing airport infrastructure has repeatedly been highlighted by Fifa as needing an upgrade.

Fifa officials have repeatedly said preparations are behind schedule, and Valcke has already urged Brazilian lawmakers to pick up the pace.

On Thursday Valcke also pressed the Brazilian Congress for approval of a pending package of laws regulating the World Cup.

Brazil prohibited alcohol sales inside stadiums in 2003 in a bid to cut down on violence but the Budweiser beer company is a major World Cup sponsor and Fifa is urging lawmakers to allow beer sales in the stadiums during the World Cup. "We're not talking about alcohol, we're talking about beer," Valcke said.

Other disputes between Fifa and the Brazilian government include liability for security and safety problems, and the sale of discounted tickets to students and the elderly as guaranteed by Brazilian law.

Valcke said Fifa and Brazil need to resolve these long-standing differences and get on with essential infrastructure preparations.

Rebelo said the disagreements should be settled once Brazil's Congress votes on the pending World Cup bill. The vote is expected to take place by March.

The local organising committee's president, Ricardo Teixeira, did not attend the press conference, although Fifa said in a press release that he had participated in the meeting. Valcke said Teixeira could not attend the press conference due to previous commitments and that Teixeira's absence was "his decision".

01/21/12--14:15: Said & Done: Fifa in Brazil; shaman of the week; plus the keeper too drunk to move (chan 1614833)

Fifa in Brazil; number crunching; shaman of the week; Adriano news; plus the goalkeeper too drunk to move

Man of the week

Headlining in Brazil last week: 1) A government pledge to increase wealth redistribution after figures showed 16 million Brazilians still live in "extreme destitution" without clean water, electricity or sewerage; 2) Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke's pledge to take $1.2bn tax-free profit out of Brazil in 2014 – a "positive result" – up from the $631m they made in South Africa.

Best comeback

Jamaica FA president Horace Burrell – banned in October for three months for his part in the Fifa bribery scandal, and now back in his job. Burrell told the press: "After a three-month lay-off, returning to office is really pleasant. Today is about moving forward, not about the past. As far as Fifa is concerned, the past is closed. And to prove that, yours truly has been named as a member of the committee responsible for resuscitating football in the Caribbean. It is indeed a pleasant day."

Inquiry of the week

Colombia: Officials say claims they misspent $1m on last summer's Under‑20 World Cup closing ceremony in Bogotá, including paying a shaman $12,000 "to prevent rain", are "unfair". El Tiempo revealed Jorge Elías González Vásquez was paid $2,000 up front for "technical advice", plus $500 a day for 20 days – 40 times the minimum wage. Organiser Martha Ana Pizarro: "It didn't rain, so it was a success: we'd use him again."

Quote of the week

Beitar Jerusalem – reacting to being docked two points after fans racially abused an opposition striker, the latest in more than 20 racism charges against the only top level Israeli club never to have signed an Arab player. Beitar said the FA's sanction was "harsh, discriminatory and unsportsmanlike".

Bulat's week

Switzerland: Xamax owner Bulat Chagaev says he'll fight the league's "disgusting" decision to withdraw the club's licence. Chagaev, who denies alleged financial irregularities and forging documents, says he can show in court that the club's problems predate him. "This club used to be dirty. All around Xamax, there were thieves and crooks. I have documents to prove it."

Number crunching

£150k: What it cost to save Darlington from liquidation, with another £50k raised by fans.

£150k: Loyalty bonus due this month for Andy Carroll after he stuck by the first year of his Liverpool contract - £60,000-a-week basic, £10,000 for image rights and £5,000 per appearance.

Adriano news

• Sept 2011: Adriano misses training at Corinthians, fined 10% of his wages. President Roberto de Andrade: "It's not a big issue, he's sorry. The fine is routine." • October: Misses training with diarrhoea; defends his lifestyle. • November: Says he's changing his lifestyle. "I had a choice: football or parties. I have to devote myself to football." • December: Misses training with "chronic diarrhoea" after an all-night São Paulo party. • January: Misses training, fined 20% of his wages. De Andrade: "We had words. He's sorry. He says he's now even more committed, and this will not happen again. Fans should be more patient."

(Also last week: Corinthians striker Emerson fined $13,000 for arriving to training in his helicopter 30 minutes late.)

Owner of the week

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis on coach Walter Mazzarri: "Mazzarri will continue beyond 2013. Why not? He's like me, a hard worker, and a morally unassailable man."

Injury news

Brazil: Caldense say defender Leandrão will be back in action this month after a fortnight out with hiccups. Club spokesman Gustavo Mendanha said the hiccups started in training two weeks ago, and only stopped when the club sent him to a doctor. "At first we felt it was kind of funny. But then it got unusual."

Fastest loan

Wednesday: Brazilian club XV de Jau sign Anderson on loan from São Bernardo. Friday: Anderson arrives for training "too drunk to move". São Bernardo director of football Edgard Montemor: "I've totally had it. We sent him to Jau and asked him not to cause trouble. It took him two days."

Gigi news

Romania: Universitatii Craiova owner Adrian Mititelu says Steaua's Gigi Becali, who accused him of tax evasion, is a "gibbon" with low intellect: "I can tell you a good one. At school Becali believed that the surname of [Romanian national hero] Michael the Brave was 'Brave'. Seriously. I was with him in history and geography lessons. There is nothing in his head."

Plus: that's life

Brazil: Brasiliense say adding club-themed soft porn to their official site "brings people closer together". The site, which used to attract 2,000 hits a day, had 200,000 in the first six hours. "Yes, there will be criticism, but that's life. Criticism happens in all sectors. We're expecting plenty of praise."

David Hills

01/23/12--07:15: Sepp Blatter: Michel Platini is ready to replace me as Fifa president (chan 1614833)

• Blatter says Platini 'will be a good president'
• Fifa head denies accusations of malpractice

Sepp Blatter has claimed Michel Platini is "ready" to succeed him as the head of Fifa – and that the Frenchman will make a good president of the game's world governing body.

Platini, the Uefa president, has so far refused to confirm whether he will stand when Blatter steps down in 2015, but the current Fifa supremo is convinced that he wants the job.

"Michel Platini is ready. If he wishes. He says 'I do not know'… but deep down, he wants it," Blatter said in an interview with France Football. "He will be a good president of course. He will not be the same president as me, because everyone is different, but he will be good president."

Meanwhile, Blatter poured scorn on the disgraced ex-Fifa vice-president Jack Warner's threat of a "tsunami" of revelations of malpractice involving Blatter at Fifa. Warner claimed he was given World Cup TV rights for one US dollar in return for supporting Blatter's presidential hopes in 1998 and 2002.

Blatter confirmed that Warner had been given the TV rights from 1986 to 1998 for a dollar – but blamed the late Mexican Fifa vice-president Guillermo Canedo, a TV tycoon, and said it was nothing to do with him.

"From 1986 and until 1998 he was awarded the television rights for one dollar by Mr Canedo," said Blatter. "Why? Because Mr Canedo wanted to keep the vice-presidency of Fifa and Mr Warner had a majority in Concacaf."

He added in a separate interview in the German magazine Kicker: "There is no tsunami. Jack Warner is claiming I assigned him the TV rights for Trinidad for one dollar when I was first elected in 1998.

"That's not true. We had no influence on the assignment of these rights. He acquired them in 1986 from OTI [Organización de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas]. But I do know what I've done wrong! I've taken Fifa out of the red, which was the situation when I became president in 1998, and into the black."

Football: Fifa | guardian.co.uk

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