Football can, it seems, revive national rivalries and conjure the ghosts of past wars. But football, can also, in a different way than long speeches or international resolutions, help induce progress toward peaceful solutions for military conflicts.

UEFA President Lennart Johansson is ready to increase the level of control of the economic interests in football.

FIFA and the German football association, the DFB, have not prevented a tournament featuring countries rejected by FIFA to be played in the week before the World Cup.

Knownledge bank: Trinidad Express journalist Lasana Liburd looks back on an investigative World Cup ticket story that shook FIFA

Knowledge bank: ISL's serious liquidity problems in the course of 2000 and 2001 still causes great concern in the financial sector in FIFA. Since a settlement, President Blatter has maintained that FIFA has lost ‘only’ 42-46 million dollars on the ISL bankruptcy. This is a small amount compared to the 340 million dollar loss Blatter stated earlier in a letter to the 24 members of FIFA’s Executive Committee.

Knowledge bank: The following timeline traces the main incidents in the complex of cases between ISL and FIFA that have arisen in the wake of the bankruptcy of the sports marketing agency ISL.

Knowledge bank: When ISL sold on tv-rights for 60 million US to TV-Globo, FIFA was meant to get a share of 22 million. The money never came under FIFA control and after ISL's bankruptcy, FIFA reported ISL to the police alleging fraud and embezzlement. Three years later FIFA withdrew the complaint without giving any explanation.  

Horst Dassler built the world's most influential sport marketing company, ISL. But at the turn of the millenium, ISL lost market shares and began purchasing television rights on a large scale. This led to a cash flow crisis that ultimately felled the company which leaves a debt of 300 million dollars.