October 2010 Reynald Temarii, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, is recorded telling Sunday Times reporters that two bids had offered "huge" payments for his support in the 2018 World Cup bidding process and that he had received offers of between $10-12 million (£7.5 million). Amos Adamu, a Fifa executive committee member from Nigeria, says he wants $800,000 (£500,000) to build four artificial football pitches, which contravenes Fifa's rules. Both men tell reporters they could facilitate access to the men who’ll decide where the tournaments will be held. Adamu and Temarii are provisionally suspended from all football-related activity pending the outcome of an investigation. Sunday Times also exposed the referees committee, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and former executive committee member Ismael Bhamjee.

October 2010 Fifa president Sepp Blatter writes to all 24 executive committee members promising a full investigation into allegations. It emerges that the Spain-Portugal and Qatar bids could face expulsion from the contest for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments if the duo are found guilty of colluding. Spain-Portugal’s bid leader accuses England of doing a deal with the USA in breach of Fifa regulations.

November 2010 It is reported that the Spain-Portugal and Qatar World Cup bids could escape censure over the allegations of collusion, after Fifa executive committee member Chuck Blazer confirms that no hard evidence had been passed to its ethics committee. Adamu is suspended for three years and fined 10,000 Swiss francs (£6,341) while Temarii is banned for a year and fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,170). Panel concludes there is insufficient proof of collusion between the Spain/Portugal and Qatar bids.

December 2010 English FA is humiliated as Russia is handed 2018 World Cup finals; Qatar gets the 2022 tournament. Roger Burden, acting chairman of the FA, stands down after relations between FA and Fifa descend into acrimony. Burden said he “wanted nothing more to do with them [Fifa]”. Swiss government prepares to investigate risk of corruption in sports bodies based in the country following Fifa’s controversial award of the two World Cup finals.

January 2011 Documents seen by Telegraph Sport reveal that Qatar offered to relocate the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation to Doha.

Evidence emerges of Qatar and Spain-Portugal collusion Blatter confirms that the Qatar and Spain-Portugal World Cup bids colluded to trade votes in the contest for the 2018 and 2022 finals.

May 2011 Geoff Thompson endorses Sepp Blatter’s campaign to retain the Fifa presidency despite having been chairman of England’s failed World Cup bid. Telegraph Sport discloses that England football officials hired a “corporate investigations” company to investigate their rivals during the failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Six of Fifa’s executive committee are accused in Parliament of “improper and unethical behaviour” during World Cup bidding. Fifa demand the FA provide evidence to support allegations of corruption and “unethical” behaviour against six executive committee members. Blatter vows to complete the inquiry before presidential election. The FA reveal they will hold independent inquiry into Lord Triesman’s allegations of corruption against four Fifa executive committee members. The FA board agrees to abstain in the forthcoming Fifa presidential election because of doubts over the probity of both Blatter and his challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam. Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid committee accuses Parliamentary committee of “insulting” behaviour as it launches attempted fight-back against allegations of corruption leveled against it. The FA call for the June 1 Fifa election to be postponed and for an independent review of the world governing body’s structures.

March 2011 Reports say the FA will support any challenger to Sepp Blatter in forthcoming Fifa presidential election. Fifa presidential challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam considers striking deal with Michel Platini that would see him step aside in favour of the Uefa president after just one four-year term if he is successful in his campaign to unseat Sepp Blatter. Blatter promises to hand out $1 billion (£610,000) in “development” funds to the 208 members associations that will decide his fate as president in the forthcoming Fifa election.

May 2011 Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam says Amadou Diallo, a Guinean national accused in Parliament of facilitating bribes on behalf of Qatar’s World Cup bid, is a close friend of his but not involved in any wrongdoing. Amadou Diallo, the man accused of facilitating bribes on behalf of Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup bid worked for Fifa for at least six years as an advisor to Mohamed Bin Hammam, the governing body confirms. It then emerges that Bin Hammam and Jack Warner, a Fifa vice-president, are to face disciplinary action for allegedly offering bribes to members of the Caribbean Football Union in exchange for votes in forthcoming election. Fifa's ethics committee suspend the pair from all football-related activity pending the outcome of a full inquiry into bribery accusations. Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke confirms that an email in which he made the sensational allegation that Qatar "bought" the 2022 World Cup is genuine after Warner, the recipient, reveals it to the press.

July 2011 The whistleblower in FIFA 2022 corruption claims, Phaedra Almajid retracts her claims. Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, dismisses bribery claims. He then outlines the nation's plans to construct air-conditioned stadiums.

December 2011 The Daily Telegraph reports that the FBI are investigating alleged hacking into email accounts for England and America’s World Cup bids.

July 2012 Fifa employ American attorney Michael J. Garcia to investigate allegations of corruption in world football. A month later, Garcia declares his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar

March 2013 Blatter claims that Qatar will host the World Cup in the June-July summer slot as planned, amid growing speculation it will be moved to the winter.

July 2013 FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger labels the decision to award Qatar the hosting rights of the 2022 Cup as a "blatant mistake."

August 2013 Blatter confirms that that the FIFA executive committee will meet to decide on when the 2022 World Cup should be held, due to Qatar's hot climate. He admits that playing the World Cup in the summer there is "not rational and reasonable''. Blatter goes onto say that Fifa made “a mistake” when appointing Qatar as the host nation for the 2022 World Cup.

June 2014 Millions of new documents are made public by the Sunday Times, showing how bribes changed hands in order to secure Qatar the 2022 World Cup. Fifa claims it is taking the claims seriously.

September 2014 Garcia delivers his 350-page report, but Hans-Joachim Eckert, the head of the adjudicatory arm of FIFA's ethics committee, declares that it will not be made public for legal reasons. Instead, Eckert reveals that he will produce a summary of the report ready for public consumption by November 2014.

November 2014 Eckert makes public the 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing the Garcia's report. The summary clears both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Critics denounce Eckert’s summary as ‘a whitewash’, while Garcia denounces it as "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions". FIFA's Appeal Committee then dismiss Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary. Garcia resigns a day later, before FIFA's executive committee agree to publish a "legally appropriate version" of the Garcia report.

January 2015 Following Sony and Emirates ending their sponsorship contracts with Fifa, Castrol, Continental and Johnson & Johnson withdraw as pressure mounts on Blatter to quit.

January 2015 Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan announces he will run against Blatter in May Fifa presidential elections. Later in the month Greg Dyke announces that his bid has the FA’s support.

March 2015 Documents show that the former Fifa vice-president and his family were paid millions by a company controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the country won its bid for the 2022 World Cup. Warner appears to have been personally paid $1.2 million (£720,000), while payments totalling almost $750,000 (£450,000) were made to Mr Warner’s sons. A further $400,000 (£240,000) was paid to one of his employees.

March 2015 Fifa confirm the Qatar World Cup will be held in November and December 2022. Premier League clubs demand compensation for the disruption.

May 2015 Former footballer Luis Figo withdraws from the race, due to Blatter’s "dictatorship". He also claims to have seen incidents that "should shame anyone who desires soccer to be free, clean and democratic".