In Nigeria, the football association has elected Abdullahi Sanni Lulu as its new chairman under the watchful eye of FIFA secretary general Urs Linsi. On the surface all seems well, but in this background analysis by Olykayode Thomas from the Nigerian Guardian it turns out the elections were fixed. In fact, the analysis was written a week before the election and still predicted the outcome with great accuracy. See how one man – Amos Adamu, a director in the Ministry of Sports and Social Development – directs affairs in the NFA and holds the media in the palm of his hand.

Gibraltar – the tiny British overseas territory below Spain – should be given the opportunity to become a member of UEFA, the European football governing body. So rules the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the face of many years resistance from Spain that has tried to block the application for a long time.

Ismail Bhamjee, the FIFA executive member exposed by a newspaper for selling tickets for World Cup matches at three times their nominal value, has now lost all his positions in African and international football.

In Swaziland one reporter has been assaulted for taking pictures of violence between football fans and another was beaten up by a football player who was unhappy with the stories the journalist had written about him.

Knowledge bank: PARIS. Far from the festive atmosphere of the World Cup, the race for cheap muscle and talent in Europe's lucrative soccer industry has created yet another wrinkle in the immigration debate: Every year thousands of school- age boys from Africa and Latin America are lured to Europe by dubious agents hawking dreams of glory and wealth.

Even if Italy become world champions on Sunday no amnesty will be granted for those implicated in the largest match-fixing scandal in Italian football. Italy’s Sports Minister and the emergency supreme of the Football Federation (FIGC) have bluntly rejected an amnesty proposal made by a member of the Forza Italia party.

A Swiss court order prevents the public from knowing exactly which FIFA officials took bribes from the now bankrupt sports marketing company, ISL. But investigative reporter Andrew Jennings now claims to know who repaid a large amount of the bribes money to the insolvent ISL-estate: It was FIFA.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has charged four top Series A clubs for match-fixing. They risk relegation if they are found guilty by the FIGC tribunal which begins 28 June.