Backheel Breakfast: Sepp Blatter and FIFA remain defiant

FIFA is going to have an election, and it's going to include Sepp Blatter. The current president had an emergency meeting with top officials on Thursday, in which UEFA chief Michel Platini asked him to resign. Blatter refused. And not only that, but UEFA will attend the FIFA congress despite their threats to boycott. Prince Ali will have the support of Europe, but can they whip up enough votes from the rest of the world to oust Blatter? Flipping enough Asian, African and North American votes to do it will be difficult.

In the news

Rafa Benitez's Napoli departure is official, and he could be named Real Madrid coach next week. (AS)

Madrid have formally denied rumors that they bid for Paul Pogba. (Real Madrid)

No one bid on Parma at auction for the fifth time. (Football Italia)

Neven Subotic has signed a new contract at Borussia Dortmund. (Bundesliga)

Jürgen Klopp might be interested in managing Liverpool. (Mirror)

You should be reading

David Smith on how Sepp Blatter won over Africa. (Guardian)

Manuel Veth on what Dnipro means to Ukraine. (Futbolgrad)

Tom Edwards on how Arsenal fans ruined the internet. (Telegraph)

Fun with transfer rumors

The section in which nothing should be taken seriously. It's rumor season, so this section will be expanded, and as the summer rolls on, will probably be bigger than the actual news section.

Rafa Benitez would like to sign Raheem Sterling for Real Madrid. (Mirror)

Danny Ings wants to go to Liverpool, but it's not stopping the Spurs from making bids. (Sky)

Mario Balotelli's agent says he's not going anywhere, but Liverpool will offload him for anything. (Guardian)

Roma are after Edin Dzeko. (Football Italia)

Strangely, Iker Casillas has urged David De Gea to join Madrid. (Star)

Wednesday's games

Sevilla have won the Europa League for the second straight time.

Watch highlights of Copa Libertadores here. (FootballManiaChannel)

Watch highlights of all three of last night's MLS games here. (MLS)

What to watch on Thursday (click for listings, all times ET)

Hamburg vs. Karlsruhe (2:30 p.m.) - See if a team that's way too big to be in a relegation playoff can stay up.

Santos Laguna vs. Queretaro (9:30 p.m.) - Leg 1 of the Liga MX final, probably featuring Ronaldinho limping around.