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Things are getting worse for FIFA as details emerge regarding the U.S. Department of Justice and Swiss Office of the Attorney General investigations in to bribery and corruption in football's world governing body. Condemnation is flying from all corners -- including from within FIFA itself -- and many of the various federations in football feel that maybe the FIFA presidential election scheduled for Friday shouldn't happen just yet. While earlier it was only national federations calling for a delay in the election, now a footballing heavyweight has called for it:
BREAKING: UEFA calls for postponement of FIFA presidential election & may boycott congress.
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) May 27, 2015
UEFA is the biggest of the continental confederations, and for them to make such a demand is a fairly big deal. They're also calling for FIFA as a whole to be "rebooted" and for real, meaningful reform to take place, not just one probably-corrupt man in power -- current president Sepp Blatter, who's expected to easily win re-election again -- cleaning the organization of his opponents by siccing the authorities on them and crying "I am SHOCKED to find gambling going on in this establishment!"
Of course, UEFA aren't exactly squeaky clean and innocent themselves, having been embroiled in a few controversies of their own, including current UEFA president Michel Platini believed to be a driving force behind Qatar being granted the 2022 World Cup, part of what set current events in motion. Not all of UEFA is playing along, either, with Russia (surprise!) condemning the United States' involvement as "illegally overreaching" their justice department's authority.
The election is still expected to proceed as scheduled. How things unfold between now and that election will bear close scrutiny.
To keep up to date on the full scope of this insanity, keep an eye on this story stream on SB Nation. This explanation of just what's going on will be frequently updates with major details.