May 14, 2010
FIFA receives official bid documents from Australia, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and the United States of America to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
May 16, 2010
British newspaper Mail On Sunday reports alleged telephone conversation recordings of English bid leader David Triesman accusing Spain and Russia committee members of bribery at the 2010 World Cup
May 26, 2010
Executive committee members Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam placed under investigation by FIFA for alleged bribery charges. Warner claims the accusations were all part of a ruse to force him to withdraw from competition for FIFA’s presidency. At the time, he was the only candidate running against Joseph (Sepp) Blatter.
May 27, 2010
Blatter placed under investigation by FIFA after Bin Hammam claimed Blatter was aware of the bribery that happened behind the scenes. He is cleared by FIFA’s Ethics Committee two days later.
November 18, 2010
FIFA’s Ethics Committee suspends executive committee members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii after British Sunday Times newspaper reports they had offered to sell their bids. Adamu and Temarii both are fined and received bans from voting in the next votes. Both appeal for their cases, but were unsuccessful.
November 26, 2010
Three more FIFA official from Cameroon, Paraguay and Brazil are reported by BBC to have taken bribes from the International Sports and Leisure (ISL) marketing company, a company that used to hold marketing and television rights for FIFA. Investigations led by the International Olympic Committee’s Ethics Commission revealed that Cameroon's Issa Hayatou had received a sum of money from the ISL to finance the African Football Confederation’s 40th anniversary. The other two officials were also found guilty of receiving donations from ISL and resigned from their positions.
December 2, 2010
Russia and Qatar are announced to be hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively, despite FIFA’s initial claim that hosting the World Cup in Qatar during the summer months would be considered “a potential health risk for players, officials, the FIFA family and spectators.”
May 10, 2011
A whistleblower, later revealed to be Phaedra Almajid previously of the Qatari bid, claims bribery was involved in the bidding process to secure Qatar as host for the World Cup 2022.
May 29, 2011
Bin Hammam is banned from entering the FIFA leadership election.
June 1, 2011
Blatter is re-elected to serve as president of FIFA for his fourth term at the 61st FIFA Congress at Hallenstadion, Zurich. He vows to learn from past mistakes.
July 23, 2011
Bin Hammam is banned for life by FIFA after a two-day hearing into bribery allegations. The ban bars Bin Hammam from “taking part in any kind of foot-ball related activity” nationally or internationally for life. The ban is annulled a year later due to lack of evidence.
October 21, 2011
Blatter announces the introduction of four new sub units within FIFA, and a “Committee of Good Governance” that aims to repair FIFA’s reputation.
April 24, 2012
The Council of Europe publishes a report criticising Blatter’s handling of the previous bribery allegations. This report, however, does not claim he was involved in any of the corruption happening behind the scenes.
March 11, 2013
FIFA’s Ethics Committee suspend executive committee member Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka. This decision was reportedly a result of alleged violations of FIFA’s Code of Ethics including bribery and corruption as well as a conflict of interest. This decision is then altered to a lifetime ban, which was appealed unsuccessfully.
April 30, 2013
Blatter is cleared of any allegations of bribery through an internal investigation led by FIFA’s Ethics Committee. Other executive members, including Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz, are found guilty of accepting illegal payments from International Sports and Leisure (ISL) between 1992 - 2000.
November 13, 2014
Chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert, releases a 42-page summary of the committees' findings on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. The summary cleared Qatar and Russia of any alleged corruption. Michael J. Garcia, chairman of the Ethics Committee and author of the full report then says the summary is “incomplete”.
December 17, 2014
Garcia resigns as chairman of the Ethics Committee's investigative body after FIFA’s decision to decline his appeal to publish the full report of his findings.
December 19, 2014
FIFA publishes a redacted version of Garcia’s full report on the decisions to host the upcoming World Cups in Qatar and Russia. This decision was backed unanimously by FIFA’s executive committee.
May 27, 2015
Swiss authorities take to FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich and arrest seven people upon the request of U.S. officials. On the same day, Switzerland announces they are leading an investigation into the bidding process of the upcoming World Cups in 2018 and 2022.
May 28, 2015
Michel Platini, president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), holds a press conference and demands for Blatter's resignation. Blatter refuses, ad Platini hints that should Blatter be re-elected and adds that "UEFA might have to discuss its relations with FIFA"
May 29, 2015
Blatter is re-elected in his fifth term to serve as FIFA's president. In his acceptance speech, he claims that he is"... the president now, the president of everybody."