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FIFA and Sepp Blatter: Where will it end?

Blatter has headed FIFA since 1998 Keystone

Football’s world governing body has a chequered past. Zurich-based FIFA has seen more than its fair share of corruption allegations, subsequent investigations – both internal and external – and now extraditions and criminal investigations.

In the latest developments, two high-ranking FIFA officials were taken into custody by the Swiss police in the early hours of the morning on December 3. The officers were acting on a request from the United States Department of Justice, which is leading an investigation into corruption at FIFA. It’s the second time this year that such raids have been carried out while FIFA officials have been staying at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, in town for a meeting on reform measures.

Outgoing president Sepp Blatter has felt the heat in 2015. In October, he and his potential successor, UEFA chief Michel Platini, were both suspended as Swiss prosecutors launched an investigation into Blatter.

But how did it come to this? We chart the ups and overwhelming downs of FIFA over the course of 13 years.

Click the arrows below to follow FIFA’s history. 

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR