FIFA president Sepp Blatter has announced he will step down from his role as allegations of corruption swirl ever closer to football’s iron throne.

Blatter surprised the world on Tuesday by announcing his decision, which came just days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as leader of the global football organization. In an early candidate for understatement of the year, Blatter said his re-election “does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football.”

Saying FFIA needed “a profound restructuring,” Blatter said he would call for a special election between December and March 2016 to appoint a new president. Blatter will stay on as FIFA boss until the election, which will be overseen by FIFA’s audit and compliance committee chairman Dominco Scala, who called Blatter’s decision “the most responsible way to ensure an orderly transition.”

In making his announcement, Blatter’s serious demeanor stood in stark contrast to his defiant press conference on Friday, when he rejected suggestions that he should stand down for the greater good of the organization. “Why would I step down? That would be admitting I did something wrong.”

Online betting operator Dafabet has increased its UK football visibility by inking a sponsorship with English Premier League side Sunderland AFC.

The deal will see Dafabet’s logo adorning Sunderland’s home and away jerseys starting with the 2015-16 EPL season. Dafabet recently inked a similar shirt deal with Football League Championship side Blackburn Rovers and has an international betting partnership with the EPL’s Everton.

Dafabet’s head of sports marketing and sponsorship John Cruces acknowledged that the company had been “very proactive in the last few months increasing our presence in football.” While Dafabet holds a license issued by the UK Gambling Commission, its chief audience is football-mad punters in Asian markets, and Cruces said “being on the front of a Premier League club shirt was vital for our global presence.”

MATCHBOOK SUPPORTS RIGHT TO PLAY

Lee Davy brings you the three biggest news stories of the football world this weekend, including one of the most one-sided FA Cup Finals you will see in living memory, a FIFA indictment, and Rio Ferdinand announcing his decision to retire from football.

If you were a Martian, the thought of watching an Arsenal v Aston Villa FA Cup Final may have piqued your interest. Arsenal were looking to win two FA Cups on the spin, and become the most successful FA Cup team in the tournament’s history, and Aston Villa had won the FA Cup seven times.

Martians don’t exist.

Anyone who knows football knew that this was going to be nothing but a whitewash. Villa, could easily have gone down this year, and quite how they ended up on the grand stage is beyond me. Tim Sherwood has done a job, but he will have his hands full next season, there is no doubt about that.

Sky Bet has made an offer to continue its sponsorship of the English Football League for two more seasons.

Sky Bet brand has been title sponsor of the League’s three divisions—the Championship, League 1 and League 2—in 2013-14 season, however, with the headline deal due to expire at the end of the next campaign, Sky Bet has been keen to trigger options to extend the contract.

Sky Bet has also reached an agreement which enables the Football League to speak to other parties but not with other betting and gaming companies.

The Football League and Sky Bet have also agreed terms on a two-year betting partnership for seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18 should Sky Bet ultimately not continue as the League’s title sponsor beyond next season, focusing mainly on the Football League’s digital inventory and a Play-Offs rights package.

Irish amateur snooker player John Sutton has been banned for six years after the sport’s world governing body found him guilty of match-fixing.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) said Sutton’s offences are related to suspicious betting patterns on his match against Scotland’s Jamie Burnett in the qualifying stages of the International Championship in Barnsley on September 24th, 2014, which saw Burnett win 6-0.

Sutton was suspended after being charged in February. The case was heard by the WPBSA disciplinary committee in Bristol on March 24th and Sutton was found guilty, with the ruling announced on Wednesday.

The WPBSA alleged that betting by Sutton’s associates from the Terry Rogers Snooker Club in Dublin was disproportionately and suspiciously large and considerably in excess of their previous betting history, indicating that they had knowledge of or belief in the outcome of the match.

The football world was shaken up early Wednesday morning on news of the arrest of seven top FIFA officials in Zurich on corruption charges.

US authorities filed indictments of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 individuals – including FIFA VP Jeffrey Webb, who is also president of North American and Latin American football governing body CONCACAF – following a multi-year investigation. The arrested individuals are being held in a Swiss luxury hotel (natch) while extradition proceedings play themselves out.

Newly sworn US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the corruption was “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States.” The US got involved because “these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US and payments were carried out via US banks.”

Lynch said “at least two generations of soccer officials” had “abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.” Over a dozen different schemes stemming from marketing deals in the US, Brazil and Latin America have been uncovered dating back to the 1990s, with the total amount of illicit funds topping $100m.

Real Madrid have parted ways with their Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, and their infamous club president, Florentino Perez doesn’t know why?

Real Madrid has sacked Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian, 55, has been shown the door after only two seasons in charge. He won the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, in his first season in charge, but failed to pick up any silverware at the second time of asking.

Out you go son.

Lee Davy delivers his quick fire analysis of a 2014/2015 Premier League season that saw Chelsea storm to victory and QPR, Burnley, and Hull drop down to the Championship.

Watching Hull’s insipid goalless draw against Manchester United has to rank as one of the most uninspiring Premier League finales that I have ever witnessed. But it was a microcosm of the entire season: drab, lifeless, and devoid of any real drama.

Chelsea won the title at a canter; Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd found their way into the Champions League, with Hull, Burnley and QPR set to wipe millions off their income statement as they fall into the abyss of the Championship. Anyone remember a team called Wigan?

Here is my quick fire analysis of the 20 teams that were paid to do battle, but only transpired to do my head in.

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new three-year deal with Mercedes worth an astonishing £100m, making him the highest paid sportsman in Britain.

Lewis Hamilton, 30, has ended months of speculation by agreeing a new three-year deal with Mercedes. His new contract will take him up to 2018, netting him an incredible £1.5m per race.

The announcement was made from the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo. The numbers add up to over £32m per year, or £640,000 per week, and not a penny of that will head into UK tax coffers as he currently resides the tax exile of Monaco.

The youngest-ever F1 champion will draw a salary worth five-times more than the Daimler-Benz Chairman Dieter Zetsche, and the decision to part ways with Simon Fuller’s XIX management team, ensured that 20% of the deal would not leak out of his pocket. Instead, Hamilton chose to work with his trusted lawyer Sue Thackeray.

Hull City boss Steve Bruce warns that Jake Livermore could be sacked if the Football Association confirms his positive drugs test for cocaine.

The disappointment was etched all over Steve Bruce’s face.

His team is clinging on to their Premier League existence by a gnat’s thong, and all anyone wants to talk about is his disgraced star Jake Livermore.

The £8 million summer signing, from Tottenham Hotspur, tested positive for cocaine during a random drugs test taken after Hull City’s 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sat 25, April. Both the Football Association (FA), and his club, has suspended him for the remainder of the season.

A Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona defeat Atletico Madrid by a single goal to win their 23rd La Liga title, and maintain their course for their second treble success.

A year ago, all Barcelona needed to do was to beat Atletico Madrid, at the Nou Camp, and they would have won their 23rd La Liga title. Diego Godin spoiled that party. The Madrid supporters celebrated their first La Liga title in 18 years, in front of the Barcelona fans.

Retribution is sweet.

In truth, Atletico Madrid lost their grip on their title a long time ago. It has been a two horse race for many months. Every club wishes to win the title in front of their home fans. Barcelona is no different, but it must have felt good to gain revenge in the Vicente Calderon.

UK bookies Ladbrokes have signed on as the new league sponsor of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).

The two-year deal, which takes effect in the 2015-16 season, will see Ladbrokes sponsor the Scottish Premiership as well as the SPFL’s three other divisions. The league stands to gain £2m per year from the partnership, which marks the SPFL’s first title sponsor since the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League merged in 2013.

SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster has been roundly criticized for failing to bring in enough sponsorship dosh. On Wednesday, Doncaster said the new partnership was the result of “significant investment of energy and effort” and represented the opportunity “to tell the story of a modern, engaging and exciting Scottish football environment.”

Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen called the deal “one of the best opportunities in British sport.” Mullen said Scottish football “deserves a committed supporter and our financial backing will help to ensure every level of the game benefits from Ladbrokes’ involvement.”

Scottish League One footballers Ayr United FC have enlisted UK lingerie model Emma Glover to help erase the past season’s disappointment from their collective memories.

Although Ayr United’s Honest Men avoided relegation via a stirring road victory over Forfar Athletic to close out the 2014-15 season, there was little else worthy of celebration in that campaign. But new manager Ian McCall, who took the reins from Mark Roberts mid-season, is keen to put the past behind him and focus on another run at the League One title in 2015-16.

The team’s plan to focus on the future includes the unveiling of a new, never-before-seen purple kit. True to form, online gambling operator Bodog, who have sponsored Ayr United for five seasons, convinced Glover http://www.emmaglover.co.uk to model the new strip. Or, at least, a reasonable facsimile thereof.

As tradition would have it, Bodog took ‘unveiling’ to its logical conclusion, convincing Glover that the best way to promote the new shirt would be to go shirtless. As Glover’s 205k Twitter followers well understand by now, Emma tends to find traditional clothing norms a little too restricting and needed little encouragement to exchange cotton and polyester for bodypaint to promote the Ayr United cause.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored what could be a crucial away goal as they lost to Juventus 2-1 in the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Final, and Lionel Messi fired two late goals to help Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich in one of the games of the season.

I recently fell out of love with football. A World Cup full of cheats, and the collapse of my team, Man Utd, has made the whole spectacle a little dour for my taste.

All that changed this week.

My heart is beating again.