Five years after ruling against the wearing of headscarves by female football players, the sport’s world governing body FIFA has taken initial steps to lift the hijab ban. In March 2012, the International Football Association Board (FIFA’s rule-making arm), voted unanimously to allow the testing of specially designed head coverings for the next four months.

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Storm in a Headscarf: FIFA was Wrong to Ban Hijabs in Soccer

Lionel Messi could become only the third player in history to win the Fifa Ballon d’Or trophy three times on Monday.

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Trio eyeing Ballon d’Or victory

TEHRAN – Not participating in the 2012 London Olympics is a nightmare for every serious athlete, but for the Iranian women’s soccer team the defeat was extra bitter after they were disqualified right before a crucial qualifying match because they wore Islamic headscarves. Ready to play a crucial Olympic qualifying match with Jordan in Amman on Friday, the Iranian team was dismissed by officials of the international football association, FIFA. The officials decided just before the kickoff that the tight headscarves the Iranian players were wearing to cover their hair broke the association’s dress code, FIFA said on Monday. Read full article > >

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Olympics 2012: FIFA bans headscarves for Iranian women’s soccer team

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Over the next four days, the U.S. national soccer team will play Spain and Canada, opponents offering a vast gulf in quality and pregame fervor. Spain captivated the planet last year in South Africa, playing with elegance and class in winning its first World Cup . With a roster featuring artistic geniuses from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, La Roja has retained soccer’s top ranking and forged a deserved place in the annals of the modern game. Canada hasn’t qualified for a World Cup in a generation, sits between Estonia and Latvia at No. 76 in the FIFA rankings, and hasn’t beaten the United States since Landon Donovan was 3 years old (1985). Read full article > >

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U.S. soccer is ready for Spain, but looks ahead to Gold Cup

FIFA has repeatedly faced charges of corruption while operating with a lack of transparency and little oversight.

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Accusations Are Replaced by Anger at FIFA

Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar withdrew his candidacy for the post of FIFA president on Saturday, one day before he is due to face an ethics committee hearing into bribery allegations.

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Bin Hammam Withdraws From FIFA Presidential Race

Former FA chairman Lord Triesman alleges four Fifa members sought “bribes” in return for backing England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid.

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Ex-FA boss makes Fifa bribe claim

Mohamed Bin Hammam announces he intends to stand against Sepp Blatter in the Fifa presidential election in June.

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Bin Hammam to challenge Blatter

Paris – As Brazil looks ahead to hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the country is struggling to line up the technical workers necessary for these projects, officials say. “We need to triple the number of engineers in the next few years,” says Maria Helena Guimar

England 2018 bid chief Andy Anson says the results of the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups shows the need for changes to the Fifa bidding process.

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England bid boss fumes at voting

Russia will host the World Cup in 2018 and Qatar gets the 2022 event, FIFA announced today.

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Russia, Qatar to host World Cup finals

In its bid presentation, officials from the United States said they could assist FIFA in its social mission to use soccer as a unifying global force.

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For World Cup, U.S. Pitches Diversity

Leaders of England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup write to members of the Fifa executive committee distancing themselves from the British media.

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England 2018 team write to Fifa