Sam Wallace: Final proof that governing body is not fit for purpose

By Qatar's insistence yesterday that the 2022 World Cup finals will be played in the 50C-plus temperatures of a Middle East summer, the hosts have left their erstwhile friend Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, with a most uncomfortable choice.- 14/01/2011, News & Comment

Blatter isolated as Qatar choice comes back to haunt Fifa

The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, was facing meltdown in his organisation last night after Qatar, the tiny emirate controversially chosen by football's world governing body to host the 2022 World Cup finals, rejected Fifa's proposals to switch the tournament to the winter.- 14/01/2011, News & Comment

Meanwhile, Britain's highest-paid banker prepares to be grilled by MPs

Britain's best-paid banker will be forced to justify his lavish income in a bruising encounter with MPs today. Bob Diamond, the Barclays chief executive, will be challenged to waive an annual bonus that could amount to between �6m and �10m. Members of the Commons Treasury Select Committee will also call for Barclays to lift the veil of secrecy ...- 11/01/2011, UK Politics

Darfur integral to better US-Sudan ties, says Kerry

US Senator John Kerry says Sudan's northern government will win quick US incentives if an independence referendum in the south goes smoothly, but further improvement of ties will depend on progress toward peace in the separate conflict in Darfur. Kerry, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, was in Sudan yesterday ahead of the crit...- 08/01/2011, Africa

AFC vote strengthens possible Sepp Blatter challenge

Chung Mong-Joon, a long-serving FIFA vice-president, today lost his seat in an election result that could major implications for the future leadership of world football. The Korean, who has been a FIFA executive member for 16 years, lost to Jordan's Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein by 25 votes to 20 at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) congress i...- 06/01/2011, News & Comment

Blatter's position at Fifa under threat from rival

The chances of Fifa president Sepp Blatter facing a challenge for his position look to have increased following an attack from his most likely opponent. - 06/01/2011, News & Comment

Rapping and wrapping in modern Arab art

In a now legendary 1980 BBC radio broadcast about modern art, the cultural historian Robert Hughes coined a brilliant phrase – “the shock of the new” – to describe the artforms that began to erupt from Europe and Russia at the end of the 19th century. That shock-wave, in the form of the newly completed Mathaf Arab Museum o...- 29/12/2010, Features

Glazers 'will sell club eventually'

A Manchester United director, Michael Edelson, yesterday said the Glazer family will sell the club eventually but that day is a "long way down the line".- 22/12/2010, Premier League

Dom Joly: Blatter's big tent has air-conditioned Qatar covered – almost all welcome

Ihave long documented my loathing for the game of football and so couldn't help laughing when the World Cup was given to Qatar in 2022. Almost everything that football fans like to do is illegal in this bloated desert state and I can't wait to see how the whole thing turns out. The good news for football fans is that Sepp Blatter is in charge of Fifa and - 20/12/2010, Dom Joly

Merger Monday sees rainmakers return to form

It wasn't the size of this week's bids that made the market believe mergers and acquisitions are back in fashion, but the number.- 19/12/2010, Business Analysis & Features

Qatari royal family on Village bid list

The Qatar royal family's property company is one of nine bids shortlisted to take over the athletes village after the London 2012 Olympics. - 18/12/2010, Olympics

Robert Fisk: Qatar's the star – and Washington is worried

Despite the leaked US diplomatic reports on Qatar and their claim that it is a major source of "terrorist" funding, Washington would do well not to mess with the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. He is the only world leader to march out of an American vice-president's office in fury after just seven seconds. And his Al-Jazeera te...- 08/12/2010, Robert Fisk

Terence Blacker: A triumph of human hubris

If the delegates currently attending the global climate conference in Mexico need any reminding of the magnitude of their task in the face of human stupidity and hubris, they do not have far to look. At another meeting of a distinguished international body, the decision has been made to hold the most needlessly energy-wasting sporting event that the plane- 07/12/2010, Terence Blacker

US believes Al Jazeera is 'propaganda tool of Qatar'

The United States government thinks the broadcaster Al Jazeera is being used as a propaganda tool by the government of Qatar to help to advance its agenda on the international stage, according to a memo published by WikiLeaks yesterday.- 06/12/2010, World Politics

Letters: University fees will hit the best workers hardest

I heard with deep despair of the proposal to pay university fees for a year for the poorest students. What a lesson that if families stop struggling and cut hours or give up work their children will have less debt. What a shocking message! What about all those who struggle to do the right thing but never get well off? They are crushed again. The current fees...- 06/12/2010, Letters