FIFA

This article is about the football organization. For the video game series, see FIFA (video game series).
FIFA
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
Map of the members of FIFA according to their confederation
AbbreviationFIFA[1]
MottoFor the Game. For the World.
Founded21 May 1904; 120 years ago (1904-05-21)
TypeFederation of national associations
HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
Coordinates47°22′53″N 8°34′28″E / 47.38139°N 8.57444°E / 47.38139; 8.57444
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
211 national associations
Official languages
English
French
German
Spanish
Gianni Infantino
Senior Vice-President
David Chung
Vice-Presidents
Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa
Aleksander Čeferin
David Gill
Alejandro Domínguez
Ahmad Ahmad
Victor Montagliani [2]
Secretary General
Fatma Samoura
AffiliationsInternational Olympic Committee International Football Association Board
Staff
103
Websitewww.fifa.com

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA /ˈfiːfə/; French Fédération Internationale de Football Association) controls international football (also called soccer). The organization’s main buildings are iĥn Zürich, Switzerland. FIFA organizes major international football tournaments, and the most famous one is the FIFA World Cup, which has been held since 1930. FIFA was established on May 21, 1905 in Paris and has 209 national associations as its members. The organization’s official languages are English, French, German and Spanish.

The president of FIFA is currently Gianni Infantino, serving since 26 February 2016.

The most powerful organ of FIFA is the FIFA Congress, which is an assembly made up of representatives from each member association. The Congress holds a regular meeting once a year, and since 1998 an additional meeting has been held every year. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's laws.

The Congress decides whether FIFA should accept new national associations and elects the President of FIFA, its General Secretary and the other members of FIFA's executive committee. The President and General Secretary take care of what goes on within and around FIFA. The executive committee, with the President as its head, is responsible for deciding the dates, locations and format of tournaments.

Also, there are six regional confederations recognized by FIFA which take care of the game in the seven different continents of the world. National associations must be members of both FIFA and their regional confederation in order for their teams to compete in FIFA's competitions. The six confederations are AFC (Asian Football Confederation in Asia and Australia), CAF ( Confederation of African Football in Africa), CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football in North America and Central America), CONMEBOL (Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol or the South American Football Confederation), OFC (Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania) and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations in Europe).

Further reading

  • Paul Darby, Africa, Football and Fifa: Politics, Colonialism, and Resistance (Sport in the Global Society), Frank Cass Publishers 2002, ISBN 0-7146-8029-X.
  • John Sugden, FIFA and the Contest For World Football, Polity Press 1998, ISBN 0-7456-1661-5.
  • Jim Trecker, Charles Miers, J. Brett Whitesell, ed., Women's Soccer: The Game and the Fifa World Cup, Universe 2000, Revised Edition, ISBN 0-7893-0527-5.

References

  1. ↑ "Fédération Internationale de Football Association". Filmcircle.com. 11 June 2014. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. ↑ FIFA.com. "FIFA Committees - FIFA Council - FIFA.com". Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIFA.