With only days to go before voting on a new president the crisis at FIFA has gone into overdrive. Sepp Blatter himself is now in the firing line with the news that the ethics committee is to investigating charges he knew about alleged cash payments. Mind you, that ethics committee is set up by FIFA, an institution run by Blatter.

By Soraya Soemadiredja, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Part One of Three Parts in AFR's FIFA Elections coverage.

All over the world, on every continent, it's election fever. You just have to turn on any news channel, open any website or read the paper to know that.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

New president of AS Roma, Boston-based Thomas DiBenedetto, is making changes at his new club.

Reports abound say that DiBenedetto will appoint Walter Sabatini as the new sporting director, and after that, he is apparently turning his attention to bringing an American star over to Italy.

The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) has warned it will intervene if the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) does not conduct its election for a new president immediately.

The controversy did not end there. Worawi, whose second term ended in December, refused to get agreement on the postponement via a resolution from the general meeting, even after being recommended to do so by the SAT official present to oversee the election.

TuttoMercatoWeb did a report card for each club president in Serie A. Since not everyone speaks Italian, I thought it'd be interesting to translate and post it here. Each president is graded out of 10 and a short paragraph follows, explaining each grade. Some of these are rather expected- guess how Bari did!

By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN

Four groups down, four to go. Copa Libertadores finally wraps up its group-stage matches this week as 12 teams battle for the seven remaining spots available in the Round of 16, with defending champions Internacional of Brazil looking for a win at home against a tough Ecuadorean side, Emelec, while Mexico's America just needs a draw in Uruguay against Nacional.

GALATASARAY'S CETIN FIGHTS FOR THE BALL WITH TRABZONSPOR'S BULUT DURING THEIR TURKEY SUPER LEAGUE SOCCER MATCH IN ISTANBUL ..PHOTO BY REUTERS....
Six weeks to go in the Turkish Super League, Trabzonspor still in the driver's seat In the Turkish Spor Toto Super League, after a win against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

GALATASARAY'S CETIN FIGHTS FOR THE BALL WITH TRABZONSPOR'S BULUT DURING THEIR TURKEY SUPER LEAGUE SOCCER MATCH IN ISTANBUL ..PHOTO BY REUTERS....
Six weeks to go in the Turkish Super League, Trabzonspor still in the driver's seat In the Turkish Spor Toto Super League, after a win against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

GALATASARAY'S CETIN FIGHTS FOR THE BALL WITH TRABZONSPOR'S BULUT DURING THEIR TURKEY SUPER LEAGUE SOCCER MATCH IN ISTANBUL ..PHOTO BY REUTERS....
Six weeks to go in the Turkish Super League, Trabzonspor still in the driver's seat In the Turkish Spor Toto Super League, after a win against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

This blog has been a little abandoned lately, and the reason for such had been forewarned by FIFA's General Secretary almost a year ago: Brazil only starts to work after Carnival (and in 2011 the Carnival will be from 5th through 8th March).

Little happened these past few months (this latest status is still up to date).

SANTIAGO, Chile Santiago The popular Argentine coach of Chile's national football team, Marcelo Bielsa, will remain in his position, the Chilean football association said Wednesday. Bielsa missed a deadline to turn in a notice of resignation and his contract would remain in effect, said the association's president Sergio Jadue.

There is a new president of Panama's football association. His name is Pedro Chaluja, a director of Árabe Unido, who defeated Lucas Alemán 13-7 in the election held today. Chaluja will hold the post for four years, succeeding Ariel Alvarado, who was FEPAFUT president for eight years. Already Chaluja has moved to unify the different factions in the federation by offering Alvarado the general secretary post.