Decmber 21, 2015 —
FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter during a press conference he convened in response to the ban imposed by FIFA's Ethics Committee. The Swiss was sporting a band aid under his right eye -- thought to be because of a recent mole removal.
December 21, 2015 —
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini are banned by FIFA's Ethics Committee for eight years. The ban relates to all football-related activity and is effective immediately.
November 11, 2015 —
FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been in hospital in November, recovering from "a body breakdown."
November 9, 2015 —
Wolfgang Niersbach announces his resignation as German Football Federation president, taking "political responsibility" for accusations of bribery involving the country's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup.
October 26, 2015 —
FIFA's deadline for submitting candidacies for its presidential election was October 26, with eight putting themselves forward for the February 26, 2015 vote to succeed Sepp Blatter. However, on October 28 David Nakhid was omitted from FIFA's final list as one of the five football associations that had declared its support for him had already done so for another candidate.
October 26, 2015 —
UEFA president Michel Platini was the first to enter the FIFA presidential race back in July, but questions remain over whether he is even still eligible to stand in the election after he was provisionally banned from football for 90 days.
October 26, 2015 —
Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan announced his presidency bid in September. He was the sole challenger to Sepp Blatter in the May 29 election but conceded defeat after receiving 73 votes to the Swiss' 133 in the first round of voting.
October 26, 2015 —
Ex-Trinidad and Tobago captain David Nakhid submitted his candidacy earlier this month. Nakhid also played for the likes of PAOK of Greece and Malmo of Sweden. However, on October 28, Nakhid was omitted from FIFA's final list. "One of the five declarations of support for Mr Nakhid was declared invalid as the same member association had previously issued a declaration of support for another candidate," said a FIFA statement. "In view of this, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee decided not to consider Mr Nakhid's application as it did not fulfil the required five declarations of support."
October 26, 2015 —
South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale, who has been part of FIFA's anti-discrimination taskforce, announced his intention to run for presidency after the South African Football Association's National Executive Committee unanimously endorsed his candidacy last week.
October 26, 2015 —
Former FIFA international relations director Jerome Champagne, who had hoped to challenge Blatter in May's election but was forced to withdraw, confirmed last week that he will be standing.
October 26, 2015 —
Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa launched his bid to become the next FIFA president 24 hours before the deadline. Sheikh Salman has been criticized by human rights organizations after being accused of complicity in crimes against humanity. Sheikh Salman's representatives were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN.
October 26, 2015 —
UEFA announced on the day of the deadline that its general secretary Gianni Infantino -- Platini's right-hand man -- will run for the FIFA presidency.
October 26, 2015 —
Liberian Football Association president Musa Bility also confirmed on the day of the deadline that he is to run for the FIFA presidency.
October 8, 2015 —
Has FIFA president Blatter spent his last day as head of football's world governing body? The 79-year-old Swiss was provisionally banned for 90 days Thursday by the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's Ethics Committee, though the duration of the ban could be extended by 45 days.
October 8, 2015 —
UEFA president and FIFA vice-president Platini was also provisionally banned for 90 days. Platini is one of the FIFA presidential candidates hoping to succeed Blatter.
October 8, 2015 —
South Korean billionaire and FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon was banned for six years and fined $103,000 based on findings relating to the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 tournament in Qatar.Chung, a former FIFA vice president, vociferously denies any wrongdoing and attacked his colleagues for leaks that he says are designed to hurt his candidacy.
October 8, 2015 —
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was suspended for 90 days.
September 14, 2015 —
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces that 'additional charges against individuals and entities' are likely following the assessment of new evidence.
September 9, 2015 —
Prince Ali adds his name to the list of candidates seeking to replace Sepp Blatter. The election at scandal-hit FIFA is on February 26, 2016.
July 30, 2015 —
South Korean billionaire and former FIFA vice president Chung announces his intention to run for the top job in world soccer.
July 29, 2015 —
European football chief Platini, seen here with Blatter (left), is the leading candidate to replace the outgoing president. The former France captain is also a vice-president in FIFA's Executive Committee.
May 14, 2010 —
A turbulent period for FIFA began in May 2010 when the world's governing body for soccer was presented with official bid documents by Australia, England, Netherlands/Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Russia, Spain/Portugal and the United States for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. During the ceremony at its Swiss headquarters, FIFA announced dates for inspections of the bidding nations from July-September.
May 16, 2010 —
British newspaper Mail On Sunday reveals that English bid leader David Triesman (pictured here with soccer star David Beckham) was secretly recorded making comments about alleged attempts by Spain and Russia to bribe referees at the imminent 2010 FIFA World Cup.
November 18, 2010 —
FIFA's Ethics Committee confirms the suspension of six FIFA officials including executive committee members Amos Adamu (pictured) and Reynald Temarii, after claims by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that they offered to sell their World Cup votes. Adamu receives a three-year ban and $11,947 fine and Temarii a 12-month ban and a $5,973 fine. The committee also rules that there is no evidence to support allegations of collusion between rival bid teams. Both Adamu and Temarii appeal unsuccessfully to FIFA's Appeal Committee and Adamu later also files an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In May 2015, FIFA bans Temarii for another eight years for allegedly accepting money from former Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam to cover legal costs of his appeal of FIFA's 2010 ban.
November 29, 2010 —
Issa Hayatou from Cameroon (pictured) is one of three FIFA officials -- the others Nicolas Leoz from Paraguay and Ricardo Teixeira from Brazil -- who are named in a BBC program which alleges they took bribes from the International Sports and Leisure (ISL) marketing company who secured World Cup rights in the 1990s. A day later, Hayatou says he is considering legal action against the BBC. All three would have voted on the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The International Olympic Committee's Ethics Commission later looks into the claims against Hayatou -- as he was an IOC member. It finds he had personally received a sum of money from ISL as a donation to finance the African Football Confederation (CAF)'s 40th anniversary and recommends he be reprimanded. In 2013, an internal investigation finds Leoz and Teixeira accepted illegal payments from ISL but says the acceptance of bribe money was not punishable under Swiss law at the time. Its report says that as both have resigned their positions with FIFA further steps over "the morally and ethically reproachable conduct of both persons" are superfluous.
December 2, 2010 —
The winning bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals are announced. Russia wins the bid to host the 2018 tournament. But the big shock came when Blatter announced that Qatar would host the 2022 finals, despite FIFA's bid inspection report stating that hosting the World Cup in June and July would be "considered as a potential health risk for players, officials, the FIFA family and spectators, and requires precautions to be taken."
May 10, 2011 —
Just a few weeks before FIFA's presidential vote, former English Football Association chairman David Triesman testifies at a UK parliamentary enquiry into England's failed 2018 bid. Under the cover of parliamentary privilege, Triesman accuses FIFA Executive Committee members Warner, Leoz, Teixeira and Worawi Makudi of trying to secure cash and privileges in return for their vote. In other evidence submitted to the committee from the Sunday Times, it was alleged that FIFA vice-president Hayatou along with fellow Executive Committee member Jacques Anouma has been paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar as the 2022 World Cup host. All those accused, and the Qatar Football Association, strenuously deny the allegations.
May 26, 2011 —
FIFA announces it will investigate Warner (pictured), who ran the CONCACAF federation covering Central and North America, and Mohamed Bin Hammam, head of the Asian Football Confederation, over bribery allegations. It follows a report by fellow Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer alleging that they paid $40,000 worth of bribes to secure the support of members of the Caribbean Football Union. They deny the claims, with Warner promising a "tsunami" of revelations to clear his name. Bin Hammam claims the accusations are part of a plan to force him to withdraw as a candidate for FIFA's presidency. He is incumbent Blatter's only opponent in FIFA's presidential election due to be held June 1.
May 27, 2011 —
FIFA says it will expand its corruption probe to include Blatter, after Bin Hammam claimed Blatter knew about cash payments he was accused of giving to national football association in exchange for pro-Hammam votes during Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter maintains that the allegations are "without substance," and two days later is exonerated by FIFA's Ethics Committee.
May 29, 2011 —
But FIFA's Ethics Committee upholds the complaints against Bin Hammam (pictured) and Warner. Bin Hammam is effectively barred from standing in the FIFA leadership election. Warner's tsunami turns out to be an email, where secretary general Valcke seems to suggest that Qatar "bought" the right to host the 2022 World Cup. After initially threatening legal action, Qatar withdraws its complaint when Valcke explains he was referring to Qatar's large, and legal, campaign budget, rather than bribes. Warner faces no further action following his resignation and the presumption of innocence remains.
June 1, 2011 —
Despite a last minute attempt by the English FA to postpone the vote -- a proposal which garnered just 17 out of the available 208 votes -- Blatter is re-elected for a fourth term as president of FIFA at the 61st FIFA Congress at Hallenstadion in Zurich. He vows to learn from past mistakes and undertake a reform agenda.
