FIFA

The International Federation of Association Football (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA (usual English pronunciation: /ˈfiːfə/), is the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its current president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth successive term. FIFA is responsible for the organisation and governance of football's major international tournaments, most notably the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930. Nineteen editions of the FIFA World Cup have been held so far. The next edition is to be held in Brazil in 2014.

FIFA has 208 member associations, three more than the International Olympic Committee and five fewer than the International Association of Athletics Federations: not all members are sovereign states.
FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. The Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year and, additionally, extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's statutes.

Congress elects the President of FIFA, its General Secretary and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee. The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of FIFA, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members.

FIFA's Executive Committee, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organisation in the intervals of Congress. FIFA's worldwide organisational 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 Referees Committee, etc.

Beside from its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Committee, Congress, etc.) there are six confederations recognised by FIFA which oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. National associations, and not the continental confederations, are members of FIFA. The continental confederations are provided for in FIFA's statutes, and membership of a confederation is a prerequisite to FIFA membership.

AFC – Asian Football Confederation

Australia have been members of the AFC since 2006

CAF – Confédération Africaine de Football
CONCACAF – Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football

Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are CONCACAF members although they are in South America

CONMEBOL – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol
OFC – Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania
UEFA – Union of European Football Associations

Teams representing Israel and the transcontinental nations of Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are under the auspices of UEFA, as is, since 2002, Kazakhstan.

In total, FIFA recognises 208 national associations 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. FIFA has more member states than the UN, as FIFA recognises 23 non-sovereign entities as distinct nations, such as the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom or politically disputed territories such as Palestine.[2] Only 8 sovereign entities don't belong to FIFA (Monaco, Vatican City, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Palau and Nauru).

The FIFA World Rankings are updated monthly and rank each team based on their performance in international competitions, qualifiers, and friendly matches. There is also a world ranking for women's football, updated four times a year.

The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of FIFA, and has met 66 times since 1904. Since 1998 the congress has been held annually. At the congress decisions are made relating to FIFA's governing statutes and their method of implication and application. The congress approves the annual report, and decides on the acceptance of new national associations and holds elections. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength. In the year following the FIFA World Cup, the President of FIFA is elected.

Abbreviation FIFA
Motto "For the game, for the world."
Formation May 21, 1904 (1904-05-21) (107 years ago)
Type Federation of national associations
Headquarters Zurich, Switzerland
Coordinates 47°22′53″N 8°34′28″E / 47.38139°N 8.57444°E / 47.38139; 8.57444
Region served Worldwide
Membership 208 national associations
Official languages English, French, German, Spanish[1]
Affiliations International Olympic Committee
Website fifa.com

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