Fifa vote, China stock shock, jest by chocolate

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

The Fifa presidency goes to a vote today with the organisation mired in scandal and Sepp Blatter defiant, refusing to step down and saying it is too late for him to withdraw.

The scandal has engulfed the world of football. The former head of Brazil’s football federationhas been charged with rampant corruption while nerves are frayed in Qatar over the tide of graft claims against its bid and the calls for greater protection for the labourers building the stadiums.

Nike is also at risk of becoming entangled as US prosecutors allege that an intermediary company helped secure a $160m, 10-year sponsorship deal between an unnamed sportswear company and the Brazilian football federation by paying bribes. The deal appears identical to one signed by Nike in 1996.

Despite these problems, it seems Fifa’s status as a moneymaking machine is assured – broadcasters and sponsors will not be dissuaded from supporting the World Cup. (FT, WaPo)

In the news

China stock shock Foreign investors have been piling into Chinese stocks just as the market is showing signs of a reversal in fortunes. The Shanghai market broke a seven-day winning streak in dramatic fashion, with shares tumbling 6.5 per cent yesterday in the 10th-largest drop in the past 15 years. It dropped another 4 per cent this morning before paring losses back to 0.2 per cent. (FT)

Dick Fuld unrepentant The former chief executive of Lehman Brothers blamed the US government for fuelling the financial crisis and ordering the closure of his investment bank. The polarising former Wall Street titan showed no signs of contrition over the Lehman collapse when he made his first voluntary public appearance since 2008. (FT)

Russia’s Ukraine thought-crime It is now a crime to speak, write or broadcast about Russian troop losses in peacetime and about people co-operating with Russian intelligence. Families of soldiers killed fighting in Ukraine who refuse to be silent and activists researching Moscow’s clandestine campaign risk prison sentences of up to eight years. (FT)

Grexit ‘possibility’ Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, acknowledged for the first time that Greece could leave the euro but insisted it would not be the end of the single currency. (FT)

$37bn chipmaker deal Singapore-based Avago agreed to buy rival Broadcom in the biggest acquisition in the tech world since the late-1990s dotcom bubble. As the rise of companies such as Apple and Samsung has squeezed parts of the tech supply chain, component makers have been forced to aim for greater scale in order to survive. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Opec The economic commission board of the oil-producing group of countries meets to discuss the outlook for the market. Venezuela appears to have quietly given up hope of persuading Opec peers to cut production to bolster prices. (FT)

Enrique Pena Nieto The Mexican president misrepresented to authorities the value and nature of a personal land deal, according to a Reuters investigation. Pena Nieto has already been under pressure over a series of conflict-of-interest scandals around properties acquired from government contractors. He will publish his annual asset declaration this week with more details but the discrepancy in his declaration could spell legal trouble.

Food for thought

China makes the rules Philip Stephens explores Chinese President Xi Jinping’s big play: “Beijing is harnessing all its economic, financial and diplomatic muscle to drive a process ofEurasian integration from its own border to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. That adds up to quite a sphere of influence.” (FT)

Jest by chocolate John Bohannon details how he preyed on the laziness of journalists around the world with a hoax story about cocoa-based weight loss. It should be noted that no such stories appeared in the FT, despite it fulfilling every reporter’s dream. (io9)

The spy who billed me Secret work and unexpected events can make filing expenses tricky for spies but governments still want to know how tax money is being spent and the receipts give a revealing indication of how intelligence officers work. One CIA bureau chief sawspending on recruitment go up when the dollar was weak and drop again when the currency rallied. (Atlas Obscura)

Why are Indian heatwaves so deadly? With an enormous population, many of whom work manual jobs that might be done by machines in more developed countries, India has among the most devastating heatwaves in the world. The latest has claimed at least 1,400 lives. (Economist, WSJ)

Italy: back on its feet After a dizzying triple-dip recession, the Italian economy seems finally to be emerging, even if few Italians feel they’re living la dolce vita . Instead, more than a decade of economic stagnation and six years of financial crises have sown profound pessimism deeply into the Italian psyche. (FT)

A transgender pioneer Forty years ago Dr Richard Raskind walked into a New York hospital a man and emerged three days later as Renee Richards, the woman she’d always been. A rare interview with the woman who laid the groundwork for Bruce Jenner and ” the transgender community’s historic moment”. (GQ)

Video of the day

Jamie Dimon’s proxy jibe Lex takes a look at the defiant JPMorgan chief executive’s swipe at shareholders who use proxy advisers. Are they lazy, as Mr Dimon says? What about his bank’s asset managers, who also use the service? (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: A match referee uses vanishing spray to mark the boundary of the ball during a free kick. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth.