Due to ‘the complexity of the matter’, FIFA has suspended the transfer ban it issued on Spanish football club FC Barcelona earlier this month for the trade of under-age players.

UPDATED: FIFA has punished FC Barcelona for trading children. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. The trade of minors is standard practice in European football – and has been for years. Now, for the first time since the sanctions against the Spanish club were issued, FIFA responds to enquiries regarding the case.

Major European clubs and anonymous investment funds are fighting across cities, countries and continents over football’s new gold – talented minors.

The saga of FIFA and the hijab, the traditional head-covering worn by many Muslim women that also refers in some countries to the entire style in which Muslim women dress, goes back at least seven years.

And now there could be four: Jérôme Champagne has joined the election for the FIFA presidency, joining a field that is expected to include the incumbent Sepp Blatter, UEFA president Michel Platini and possibly the CONCACAF president, Jeffrey Webb.

Former FIFA director of international relations, Jérôme Champagne, who left FIFA in 2010 today announced his run for FIFA presidency at a press conference in London.

The European Commission has targeted seven major Spanish football clubs including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona over possible illegal state funding.

At Play the Game 2013, taking place in Aarhus 28-31 October, former professional footballer, Croatian Mario Čižmek told his personal tale of how he was driven to fix matches while he was playing in the Croatian first league. Below you will find his speech.