Backheel Breakfast: It's FIFA presidential election day

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The FIFA congress will go forward on Friday, featuring a presidential vote, and things are going about as well as you'd expect. The auditorium had to be cleared because of a bomb threat, but it was an empty one and they're back on task. Standing president Sepp Blatter and challenger Prince Ali bin Hussein are doing a lot of campaigning, with Ali needing to snag a decent percentage of Asian votes to win. Huge sections of AFC are loyal to Blatter, though there will be some defectors, while Africa is expected to go 100 percent for Blatter.

As for the arrested guys, Jack Warner still insists he never did anything wrong. "If I have been thieving FIFA money for 30 years, who gave me the money," said Warner. "How come he is not charged? Why only persons from Third World countries have been charged?"

There's a lot wrong with this statement. Americans or people legally residing and doing business in America were arrested, and he's not accused of stealing money from FIFA. He's accused of taking bribes. The co-conspirators are mentioned in the indictment, with their nationalities and professions indicated, but they haven't been named or charged because there isn't enough evidence against them to bring charges. Does someone want to get Warner a lawyer's phone number?

In the news

Spurs have announced the signing of Kevin Wimmer. (Tottenham Hotspur)

Belgium boss Marc Wilmots has been approached by Schalke. He'll decide after Belgium's Euro qualifiers. (Guardian)

Hannover boss Michael Frontzeck has signed a two-year contract extension. (Bundesliga)

Porto has exercised their purchase clause on Casemiro. Real Madrid can pay to break the clause. (AS)

Sampdoria's president has said Sinisa Mihajlovic can take his favorite players with him to Napoli or Milan. (Football Italia)

Tim Sherwood told Christian Benteke he's too good for Liverpool and should be aiming to make it to Real Madrid. (Mirror)

You should be reading

Louisa Thomas on Sydney Leroux making an impact at the World Cup. (Grantland)

Dustin Ward asks, what makes the most English team? (Stats Bomb)

Barney Ronay on Tim Sherwood, the comedian turned football manager. (Guardian)

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.

Bayern Munich might offload Mehdi Benatia to Inter Milan. (Football Italia)

Real Madrid's top transfer target is Marco Verratti. (AS)

Southampton would like to sign Idrissa Gueye from Lille. (Mirror)

Arsenal are considering triggering Jackson Martinez's release clause. (Express)

Manchester United are the favorites to land Carlos Bacca. (Metro)

Southampton have rejected a £10m bid from Liverpool for Nathaniel Clyne. They probably want twice that. (Guardian)

Thursday's games

Rangers got trucked by Motherwell in their promotion/relegation playoff. They look likely to spend another year in the second division. (Guardian)

Karlsruhe have the upper hand on Hamburg after a 1-1 draw in their promotion/relegation playoff. (Bundesliga)

Santos beat Queretaro 5-0 in the first leg of the Liga MX final, so they'll coast to a Mexican title. (ESPN FC)

What to watch this weekend (click for listings, all times ET)

Arsenal vs. Aston Villa (Saturday, noon) - This year's FA Cup final is a near-repeat of last year's though Villa certainly have more exciting attackers than Hull.

Borussia Dortmund vs. Wolfsburg (Saturday, 2 p.m.) - Jurgen Klopp gets his sendoff in the DFB-Pokal final. He might get a phone call from Ian Ayre at full time.

Barcelona vs. Athletic Club (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.) - Barca faces a formidable opponent in the Copa del Rey final as they chase a treble.

USWNT vs. South Korea (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) - The USWNT's last warm-up game before the World Cup.

Napoli vs. Lazio (Sunday, 2:45 p.m.) - Napoli have to win to make Champions League, while Lazio only need to draw.