Fédération Internationale de Football Association
Motto : For the Game. For the World.
Formation : May 21, 1904
Type : Sports federation
Headquarters : Zürich, Switzerland
Membership : 208 national associations
Official languages : English, German, French, Spanish
President : Sepp Blatter
Website : http://www.fifa.com/
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by its acronym, FIFA, is the international governing body of association football. Its headquarters are in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Joseph Blatter. FIFA is responsible for the organization and governance of football's major international tournaments, most notably the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930.
FIFA has 208 member associations, which is 16 more than the United Nations and 3 more than the International Olympic Committee
FIFA was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 — the French name and acronym persist to this day, even outside French-speaking countries. Its first president was Robert Guérin. FIFA presided over its first international competition in 1906, but this met with little approval or success. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913.
FIFA, however, foundered during World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation fell into the hands of Dutchman Carl Hirschmann The Home Nations later resumed their membership. The FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum in England.
FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of a representative from each affiliated national federation. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's by-laws.
Congress elects the President of FIFA, its secretary-general and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee. FIFA's worldwide organizational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee or created by Congress as Standing Committees. Among those bodies are the Finance Committee, the Disciplinary Committee, the Referee's Committee, etc.
Aside from its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Board, Congress, etc.) FIFA has created confederations which oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. National federations, and not the continental Confederations, are members of FIFA. The continental Confederations are provided for in FIFA's by-laws.
AFC - Asian Football Confederation in Asia and Australia
CAF - Confédération Africaine de Football in Africa
CONCACAF - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football in North America and Central America
CONMEBOL - Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol in South America
OFC - Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania
UEFA - Union Européenne de Football Association in Europe.
No team from the OFC is offered automatic qualification to the World Cup. In an effort to improve their national and domestic teams Australia moved to the Asian Federation 2006.
Initially, the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification cycle was planned to provide the winner of OFC qualifying with a place in the final AFC qualification group, but this was scrapped in favour of a playoff between the OFC winner and an AFC team for a World Cup place.
In total, FIFA recognises 208 national federations and their associated men's national teams as well as 129 women's national teams; see the list of national football teams and their respective country codes. Curiously, FIFA has more member states than the United Nations, as FIFA recognises several non-sovereign entities as distinct nations, most notably the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom. The FIFA World Rankings are updated monthly and rank each team based on their performance in international competitions, qualifiers, and friendly matches.
Jules Rimet (left) was president of the French football federation and FIFA at the time of the first World Cup. The original World Cup trophy was named in his honor. The trophy itself had a rocky history: During World War II, Ottorino Barassi, an official of the Italian football association, hid it in a shoe-box under his bed. Later, it was stolen during a public exhibition just before the 1966 World Cup Final, then recovered and stolen again, seventeen years later in Brazil. It hasn't been found seen since and many speculate that it may have been melted.
Motto : For the Game. For the World.
Formation : May 21, 1904
Type : Sports federation
Headquarters : Zürich, Switzerland
Membership : 208 national associations
Official languages : English, German, French, Spanish
President : Sepp Blatter
Website : http://www.fifa.com/
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by its acronym, FIFA, is the international governing body of association football. Its headquarters are in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Joseph Blatter. FIFA is responsible for the organization and governance of football's major international tournaments, most notably the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930.
FIFA has 208 member associations, which is 16 more than the United Nations and 3 more than the International Olympic Committee
FIFA was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 — the French name and acronym persist to this day, even outside French-speaking countries. Its first president was Robert Guérin. FIFA presided over its first international competition in 1906, but this met with little approval or success. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913.
FIFA, however, foundered during World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation fell into the hands of Dutchman Carl Hirschmann The Home Nations later resumed their membership. The FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum in England.
FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of a representative from each affiliated national federation. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's by-laws.
Congress elects the President of FIFA, its secretary-general and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee. FIFA's worldwide organizational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee or created by Congress as Standing Committees. Among those bodies are the Finance Committee, the Disciplinary Committee, the Referee's Committee, etc.
Aside from its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Board, Congress, etc.) FIFA has created confederations which oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. National federations, and not the continental Confederations, are members of FIFA. The continental Confederations are provided for in FIFA's by-laws.
AFC - Asian Football Confederation in Asia and Australia
CAF - Confédération Africaine de Football in Africa
CONCACAF - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football in North America and Central America
CONMEBOL - Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol in South America
OFC - Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania
UEFA - Union Européenne de Football Association in Europe.
No team from the OFC is offered automatic qualification to the World Cup. In an effort to improve their national and domestic teams Australia moved to the Asian Federation 2006.
Initially, the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification cycle was planned to provide the winner of OFC qualifying with a place in the final AFC qualification group, but this was scrapped in favour of a playoff between the OFC winner and an AFC team for a World Cup place.
In total, FIFA recognises 208 national federations and their associated men's national teams as well as 129 women's national teams; see the list of national football teams and their respective country codes. Curiously, FIFA has more member states than the United Nations, as FIFA recognises several non-sovereign entities as distinct nations, most notably the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom. The FIFA World Rankings are updated monthly and rank each team based on their performance in international competitions, qualifiers, and friendly matches.
Jules Rimet (left) was president of the French football federation and FIFA at the time of the first World Cup. The original World Cup trophy was named in his honor. The trophy itself had a rocky history: During World War II, Ottorino Barassi, an official of the Italian football association, hid it in a shoe-box under his bed. Later, it was stolen during a public exhibition just before the 1966 World Cup Final, then recovered and stolen again, seventeen years later in Brazil. It hasn't been found seen since and many speculate that it may have been melted.
