FIFA06screen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
,
beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...
, and
futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
(represented by
Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
),
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Headquartered in
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must also be members of one of the six regional confederations:
CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...
(Africa), AFC (Asia),
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
(Europe),
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
(North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and
CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...
(South America). FIFA is a sports governing body that organizes football events all over the world. FIFA outlines several objectives in its organizational statutes, including growing football internationally, ensuring it is accessible to everyone, and advocating for integrity and fair play. It is responsible for organizing and promoting football's major international
tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
, notably the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
which began in 1930, and the Women's World Cup which commenced in 1991. Although FIFA does not solely set the laws of the game, that being the responsibility of the
International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
of which FIFA is a member, it applies and enforces the rules across all FIFA competitions. All FIFA tournaments generate revenue from sponsorships; in 2022, FIFA had revenues of over US$5.8 billion, ending the 2019–2022 cycle with a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $3.9 billion. Reports by investigative journalists have linked FIFA leadership with corruption, bribery, and vote-rigging related to the election of
FIFA president The following is a list of presidents of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world association football governing body. Presidents Daniel Burley Woolfall, Rodolphe Seeldrayers, and Arthur Drewry died during th ...
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
and the organization's decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. These allegations led to the indictments of nine high-ranking FIFA officials and five corporate executives by the
US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...
on charges including
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
,
wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
, and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
. On 27 May 2015, several of these officials were arrested by Swiss authorities, who launched a simultaneous but separate criminal investigation into how the organization awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Those among these officials who were also indicted in the US are expected to be extradited to face charges there as well. Many officials were suspended by FIFA's ethics committee including
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
and
Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...
. In early 2017, reports became public about FIFA president
Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (); (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian Association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and the president of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 26 Febr ...
attempting to prevent the re-elections of both chairmen of the ethics committee,
Cornel Borbély Cornel Borbély (born 1978) is a Swiss jurist. He is a lawyer in Zurich and was from 2014 until 2017 the second chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee. Life and education Borbély was born in 1978 in Dürnten. After ...
and
Hans-Joachim Eckert Hans-Joachim Eckert (born 1948, in Plochingen) is a German jurist. He was Presiding Judge of the business court division at the Regional Court Munich I from October 2005 to July 2015. Between 17 July 2012 and 10 May 2017, he was the first chairm ...
, during the FIFA congress in May 2017. On 9 May 2017, following Infantino's proposal, The
FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress ...
decided not to renew the mandates of Borbély and Eckert. Together with the chairmen, 11 of 13 committee members were removed. FIFA has been suspected of corruption regarding the
Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid was a successful bid by Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. With a population of 2 million people, Qatar was the first Arab state to host the World Cup. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son o ...
.


History

The need for a single body to oversee association football became increasingly apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in the rear of the headquarters of the
Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques The Union of French Athletic Sports Societies () was a sports governing body in France. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athletics, cycling, field hockey, fencing, croquet, and swimming. However it is perh ...
(USFSA) at the Rue Saint Honoré 229 in Paris on 21 May 1904. The French name and acronym are universally adopted outside French-speaking countries. The founding members were the national associations of
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, Spain (represented by then-
Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
; the Royal Spanish Football Federation was not created until 1913),
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. On the same day, the
German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...
(DFB) declared its intention to affiliate through a telegram. The first president of FIFA was
Robert Guérin Robert Guérin (; born Clément Auguste Maurice Robert; 28 April 1876 – 19 March 1952) was a French journalist, and the List of Presidents of FIFA, first president and one of the founders of the Fédération Internationale de Football Associati ...
. Guérin was replaced in 1906 by
Daniel Burley Woolfall Daniel Burley Woolfall (15 June 1852 – 24 October 1918) was an English football executive and the second president of FIFA. An English Football Association administrator from Blackburn, Woolfall was elected as president on 4 June 1906. A key ...
from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, by then a member of the association. The first tournament FIFA staged, the association football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful than its Olympic predecessors, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of FIFA. Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in 1909,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
in 1912,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
in 1913, and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1914. The 1912 Spalding Athletic Library "Official Guide" includes information on the 1912 Olympics (scores and stories), AAFA, and FIFA. The 1912 FIFA president was Dan B Woolfall.
Daniel Burley Woolfall Daniel Burley Woolfall (15 June 1852 – 24 October 1918) was an English football executive and the second president of FIFA. An English Football Association administrator from Blackburn, Woolfall was elected as president on 4 June 1906. A key ...
was president from 1906 to 1918. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited, the organization's survival was in doubt. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organization was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschmann. It was saved from extinction but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations (of the United Kingdom), who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership. The FIFA collection is held by the
National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of Football in England, football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of association football, football ...
at
Urbis Urbis is a building in Manchester, England, designed by Ian Simpson (architect), Ian Simpson, which opened in 2002 as part of the redevelopment of Exchange Square (Manchester), Exchange Square. Originally a Museum of the City, a switch was made i ...
in Manchester, England. The first World Cup was held in 1930 in
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, Uruguay.


Identity


Flag

The FIFA flag is blue, with the organization's wordmark logo in the middle. The current FIFA flag was first flown during the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Moscow, Russia.


Anthem

Akin to the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
, FIFA has adopted an anthem composed by the German composer
Franz Lambert Franz Lambert (born 11 March 1948) is a German composer and organist. He is an avid Hammond organ player; however, he is more noted in later years for playing the Wersi range of electronic organs. During his career he has released over 100 albu ...
since the
1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
. It has been re-arranged and produced by
Rob May Rob May (born 15 February 1969, in London) is a musician, songwriter and record producer. May co-founded and toured with Beehive, who won a MOBO Best Gospel Act award in 1997 for their self-produced album, ''Brand New Day''. He has played key ...
and Simon Hill. The FIFA Anthem is played at the beginning of official FIFA sanctioned matches and tournaments such as international friendlies, the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
,
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
,
FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...
,
FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...
,
Football at the Summer Olympics Association football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA World Cup tournament). Women's football was added to the offic ...
,
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...
, FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup,
FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherla ...
,
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...
and
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...
. Since 2007, FIFA has also required most of its broadcast partners to use short sequences including the anthem at the beginning and end of FIFA event coverage and for
break bumper In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercia ...
s to help promote FIFA's sponsors. This emulates practices long used by international football events, such as the UEFA Champions League. Exceptions may be made for specific circumstances; for example, an original piece of African music was used for bumpers during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


Presidents of FIFA


Structure


Six confederations and 211 national associations

Besides its worldwide institutions, there are six confederations recognized by FIFA which oversee the game in the different
continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
s 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 union is a prerequisite to FIFA membership. *
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
(AFC; 47 members) *
Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...
(CAF; 54 members) * Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF; 41 members) * Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL; 10 members) *
Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...
(OFC; 13 members) *
Union of European Football Associations The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan ...
(UEFA; 55 members) In total, FIFA recognizes 211 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 A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed. The term ''country code'' frequently refe ...
. The number of FIFA member associations is higher than the number of UN member states as FIFA has admitted associations from 23 non-sovereign entities as members in their own right, such as the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom and the two
special administrative regions of China The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of four types of Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions of the China, People's Republic of China directly under the control of its S ...
:
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
. On 28 February 2022, FIFA suspended Russia from all competitions due to controversy surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. FIFA can suspend countries due to numerous multifaceted issues. Common reasons include governance interference, corruption, and financial irregularities. Doping or the misappropriation of drugs is also a consideration for expulsion. The
FIFA Men's World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their gam ...
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, amended on a quarterly schedule.


Laws and governance

FIFA's
headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
is in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, and it is an association established under the
law of Switzerland Swiss law is a set of rules which constitutes the law in Switzerland. Structure and Sources There is a hierarchy of political levels which reflects the legal and constitutional character of Switzerland. The Federal law (, , ) consist of the ...
. FIFA's supreme body is the
FIFA Congress The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Association Football Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA . FIFA is the international governing body of ...
, an assembly of representatives from each affiliated member association. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of size or footballing strength. The Congress assembles in ordinary sessions once every year, and extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. Congress makes decisions relating to FIFA's governing statutes and their method of implementation and application. Only Congress can pass changes to FIFA's statutes. The congress approves the annual report and decides on the acceptance of new national associations, and holds elections. Congress elects the
President of FIFA The following is a list of presidents of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world association football governing body. Presidents Daniel Burley Woolfall, Rodolphe Seeldrayers, and Arthur Drewry died during th ...
, its general secretary, and the other members of the
FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress ...
in the year following the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
. The FIFA Council – formerly called the FIFA Executive Committee – is the organization's main strategic body, making decisions in the intervals between Congress meetings. The council comprises 37 people: the president, who chairs the Council; 8 vice-presidents; and 28 members from the confederations. Each confederation must elect at least one woman to the Council. Six of the Vice-Presidents hold the role ''ex officio'' as the Presidents of the Confederations, and the remaining two must come from UEFA. The Council reviews the bids to host the World Cup and proposes up to three of these to the Congress, which votes to select the host country or countries. The President and the Secretary General are the main office holders of FIFA and are in charge of its daily administration, carried in by the general secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members.
Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (); (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian Association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and the president of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 26 Febr ...
is the current president, elected on 26 February 2016 at an extraordinary FIFA Congress session after former president
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
was suspended pending a corruption investigation. FIFA's worldwide organizational structure also consists of several other bodies under the authority of the FIFA Council or created by Congress as standing committees. Among those bodies are the FIFA Emergency Committee, the
FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIFA ...
, the Finance Committee, the Disciplinary Committee, and the Referees Committee. The FIFA Emergency Committee deals with all matters requiring immediate settlement in the time frame between the regular meetings of the
FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress ...
. The Emergency Committee consists of the FIFA president as well as one member from each confederation. Emergency Committee decisions made are immediately put into legal effect, although they need to be ratified at the next Executive Committee meeting.


Administrative cost

FIFA publishes its results according to
International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's fi ...
. The total compensation for the management committee in 2011 was 30 million for 35 people. Blatter, the only full-time person on the committee, earned approximately two million Swiss francs, 1.2 million in salary, and the rest in bonuses. A report in London's ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' in June 2014 said the members of the committee had their salaries doubled from $100,000 to $200,000 during the year. The report also said leaked documents had indicated $4.4 million in secret bonuses had been paid to the committee members following the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
in South Africa.


Governance

The laws that govern football known officially as the Laws of the Game, are not solely the responsibility of FIFA; they are maintained by a body called the
International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
(IFAB). FIFA has members on its board (four representatives); the other four are provided by the football associations of the United Kingdom:
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, who jointly established IFAB in 1882 and are recognized for the creation and history of the game. Changes to the Laws of the Game must be agreed upon by at least six delegates. The FIFA Statutes form the overarching document guiding FIFA's governing system. The governing system is divided into separate bodies with the appropriate powers to create a system of checks and balances. It consists of four general bodies: the Congress, the executive committee, the general Secretariat, and standing and ad hoc committees.


Discipline of national associations

FIFA frequently takes active roles in the running of the sport and developing the game around the world. One of its sanctions is to suspend teams and associated members from international competition when a government interferes in the running of FIFA's associate member organizations or if the associate is not functioning correctly. A 2007 FIFA ruling that a player can be registered with a maximum of three clubs and appear in official matches for a maximum of two in a year measured from 1 July to 30 June has led to controversy, especially in those countries whose seasons cross that date barrier, as in the case of two former Ireland internationals. As a direct result of this controversy, FIFA modified this ruling the following year to accommodate transfers between leagues with out-of-phase seasons.


Video replay and goal-line technology

FIFA now permits the use of video evidence during matches, as well as for subsequent sanctions. However, for most of FIFA's history it stood opposed to its use. The 1970 meeting of the
International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
"agreed to request the television authorities to refrain from any slow-motion play-back which reflected, or might reflect, adversely on any decision of the referee". As recently as 2008 FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "Let it be as it is and let's leave ootballwith errors. The television companies will have the right to say
he referee He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
was right or wrong, but still, the referee makes the decision – a man, not a machine." This stance was finally overturned on 3 March 2018, when the IFAB wrote
video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...
s (also known as VARs) into the Laws of the Game permanently. Their use remains optional for competitions. In early July 2012 FIFA sanctioned the use of goal-line technology, subject to rules specified by the
International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
(IFAB), who had officially approved its use by amending the Laws of the Game to permit (but not require) its use. This followed a high-profile incident during a second-round game in the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
between England and Germany, where a shot by Englishman
Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...
, which would have levelled the scores at 2–2 in a match that ultimately ended in a 4–1 German victory, crossed the line but was not seen to do so by the match officials, which led FIFA officials to declare that they would re-examine the use of
goal-line technology In association football, goal-line technology (sometimes referred to as a Goal Decision System) is the use of electronic aid to determine if a goal has been scored or not. In detail, it is a method used to determine when the ball has completely ...
.


Controversy

The 2015 FIFA corruption scandal exposed a widespread bribery and corruption scheme within FIFA. This scandal implicated over two dozen FIFA officials and associates in a 24-year self-enrichment scheme that reached the highest levels of FIFA management. Accusations included bribery related to the awarding of hosting rights for the
2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...
to
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and the
2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
to
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
. On 27 May 2015, the U.S.
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
indicted 14 FIFA officials and marketing executives, charging them with receiving approximately $150 million in bribes over two decades. The scandal led to the arrest of several high-ranking FIFA officials, including vice presidents Jeffrey Webb and
Eugenio Figueredo Eugenio Hermes Figueredo Aguerre (born 10 March 1932 in Santa Lucía, Uruguay) is a Uruguayan and American association football executive and former footballer. In May 2015, he was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee. Biography As a footballer, ...
. Although FIFA president Sepp Blatter was not initially named in the criminal investigation, he resigned shortly after being re-elected for a fifth term. Further investigations uncovered additional corruption, resulting in suspensions and bans for several FIFA executives, including Blatter,
Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...
, and
Jérôme Valcke Jérôme Valcke (born 6 October 1960) is a French football administrator, best known as the former Secretary General of FIFA (the international governing body of the sport). He was fired on 13 January 2016 as a result of allegations arising from ...
. The scandal highlighted an organizational culture within FIFA characterized by greed, secrecy, and corruption, severely damaging its reputation and prompting widespread calls for significant reforms in the governance of international football. On 28 February 2022, due to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
and by a recommendation by the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC), FIFA suspended the participation of Russia. The Russian Football Union unsuccessfully appealed the FIFA ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the ban. Some observers, while approving of the boycott of Russia, have pointed out that FIFA did not boycott
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
as an aggressor during the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
, Saudi Arabia for its
military intervention in Yemen A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
, Qatar for its
human rights violations Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...
, or the United States for the actions of the US military during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. FIFA previously banned Indonesia due to government intervention within the team. FIFA requires members to play "with no influence from third parties". On 23 October 2024, a new controversy came up as allegations against FIFA were made by players from several countries claiming the organization did not pay them agreed sums of money. The total reaching with sums reaching up to £3m. According to reports Four hundred and twenty players did not get paid as agreed with FIFA.


Recognition and awards

FIFA holds an annual awards ceremony,
The Best FIFA Football Awards The Best FIFA Football Awards is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA. The first awarding ceremony was held on 9 January 2017 in Zürich, Switzerland. The award is aimed at reviving the FIFA World Player Gal ...
since
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, which recognizes both individual and team achievements in international association football. Individually, the top men's player is awarded
The Best FIFA Men's Player The Best FIFA Men's Player is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. The award was formerly known ...
, and the top women's player is
The Best FIFA Women's Player The Best FIFA Women's Player is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. From 2001 to 2015, the award was known ...
. Other prominent awards are
The Best FIFA Football Coach The Best FIFA Football Coach is an association football award given annually to the men's and women's football coaches who are considered to have performed the best in the previous 12 months. History The selection criteria for the coaches of the ...
and FIFA FIFPRO World 11. In 2000, FIFA presented two awards,
FIFA Club of the Century FIFA Club of the Century was an award presented by FIFA to decide the best List of association football clubs, football club of the 20th century. Real Madrid C.F., Real Madrid was the winner of the award with 42.35% of the vote, announced at the ...
and
FIFA Player of the Century FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
, to decide the greatest football club and player of the 20th century.
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
was the club winner, while
Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
and
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
were the joint player's winners.


FIFA variants

#
Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
: Recognized 1904 (men), 1988 (women) #
Futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
: Recognized 1986 (men), 2023 (women) #
Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
: Recognized 2004 #
Beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...
: Recognized 2005 (men), 2019 (women)


Tournaments


National teams

Men's *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
*
FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...
*
FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...
*
FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherla ...
* Men's Youth Olympic Futsal Tournament (U-18) *
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...
*
FIFA Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) ...
senior teams of the UAFA (
Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
) * FIFA Series (friendly matches) Women's *
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
*
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...
*
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an annual (biennial until 2024) international women's association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA) ...
*
FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup The FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup is an international futsal competition set to be contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The competition was created by FIFA in Decem ...
* Women's Youth Olympic Futsal Tournament (U-18)


Clubs

Men's *
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...
*
FIFA Intercontinental Cup The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by FIFA, the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The first edition took place in 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, 2024. The co ...
*
FIFA Youth Cup The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
Women's *
FIFA Women's Club World Cup The FIFA Women's Club World Cup is an international women's association football competition that is proposed by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The inaugural edition is sch ...
*
FIFA Women's Champions Cup The FIFA Women's Champions Cup is an international women's football competition organized by FIFA that will debut in 2026. The tournament features the champion clubs from each of the six continental confederations, competing annually—except in ...
*
Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup is an international association football competition organised by FIFA. History Founded by FC Blue Stars, Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup is an international youth club football tournament. The Zürich based club were one of ...


eSports

Individual * FIFAe World Cup Team *
FIFAe Club World Cup The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
( FIFAe Club Series) * FIFAe Nations Cup ( FIFAe Nations Series) * FIFAe Continental Cup


Former tournaments

*
FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...


One-time Tournaments

* FIFA World Champions' Gold Cup *
FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament The 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament, or International Women's Football Tournament, was organised by FIFA in China from 1 to 12 June 1988. The competition was a test to study if a global women's World Cup was feasible following the experie ...


Current title holders


eSports


FIFA World Rankings

{{Further, FIFA Men's World Ranking, FIFA Women's World Ranking {{col-begin {{col-2


Men's

The following table has the Top 20 ranked men's football countries worldwide. {{Sports rankings table, FIFA World Rankings, 1, 20 , style=margin-left:1em; , caption= , header1= , header2=Top 20 rankings as of INSERT_UPDATE_DATEINSERT_REFERENCE , footer1=*Change from INSERT_LAST_DATE , footer2=Complete rankings at FIFA.com
/small> {{col-break {{col-2


Women's

The following table has the Top 20 ranked women's football countries in the world. {{Sports rankings table, FIFA Women's World Rankings, 1, 20 , style=margin-left:1em; , caption= , header1= , header2=Top 20 rankings as of INSERT_UPDATE_DATEINSERT_REFERENCE , footer1=*Change from INSERT_LAST_DATE , footer2=Complete rankings at FIFA.com
/small> {{col-end


Sponsors of FIFA

{{Updated, October 2024


FIFA Partners

*
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
*
Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- lar ...
*
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
*
Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...
Kia Kia Corporation (, formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業) and Kia Motors Corporation) is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second larges ...
*
Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...
*
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
*
Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...


FIFA+

{{Infobox website , name = FIFA+ , logo = FIFA+.svg , type = OTT streaming platform , language =
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
, location_city = Paris , location_country =
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, country_of_origin =
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, area_served =
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, owner = FIFA , url = {{URL, https://plus.fifa.com/ , registration = Required , launch_date = {{date, df=no, 2022 , current_status = Active In April 2022 FIFA launched FIFA+, an OTT service providing up to 40,000 live matches per year, including 11,000 women's matches. It was also confirmed that FIFA would make available archival content, including every FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup match recorded on camera, together with original documentary content.
Eleven Sports Eleven Sports was a multinational sports and entertainment media group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Eleven Sports' business model initially centred around the acquisition of major international sports rights in smaller countries. The ...
was later reported to be responsible for populating the FIFA+ platform with live matches. FIFA+ broadcast all matches of the youth World Cups in both genders, starting with the
2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth Association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since i ...
. FIFA+ also showed the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...
live in selected regions such as Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand. FIFA+ have the rights to competitions in
Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
including the
OFC Champions League The OFC Men's Champions League is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been organised since 2007 ...
and the OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They also have rights to the
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
domestic competitions and national teams.


Competitions

As of 16th of May 2025 FIFA+ covers the following competitions:


International

*
OFC Women's Champions League The OFC Women's Champions League is the top-tier women's football club competition in Oceania. It involves the top clubs from countries affiliated with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The first edition was played in June 2023. AS Acad ...
*
OFC U-16 Men's Championship The OFC Men's U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World ...
* OFC U-16 Women's Championship *
OFC Men's Champions League The OFC Men's Champions League is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been organised since 2007 ...
*
OFC U-19 Men's Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...
*
OFC U-19 Women's Championship The OFC U-19 Women's Championship (previously the OFC U-20 Women's Championship or OFC Women's Under 20 Qualifying Tournament) is a football tournament held every two years to decide the only qualification spot for the Oceania Football Confederati ...
*
OFC Men's Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...
*
UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship The UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship () is Central America's women's club association football, football championship organized by Central American Football Union, UNCAF. Results Performance by club Performance by country *Guest country ...
*
COSAFA Cup The COSAFA Cup (known fully as COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup) is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), inaugurated after the ban against the Republic of Sout ...
*
COSAFA Women's Champions League The CAF Women's Champions League COSAFA Qualifiers, branded as the COSAFA Women's Champions League, is an annual qualification tournament for the CAF Women's Champions League organized by COSAFA for its nations. Established in 2021, it has been ...
*
COSAFA Women's Championship The COSAFA Women's Championship is an association football tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). South Africa have won the most titles with seven wins. Zambia are the curr ...
*
COSAFA U-17 Youth Championship The COSAFA U-17 Youth Championship, also known as the COSAFA U-17 Men's Championship, is an international youth Association football, football championship organised by COSAFA for the men's under-17 national teams of Southern Africa. South Africa ...
*
COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship The COSAFA Women's U17 Championship is an annual football tournament for women's under-17 teams from Southern Africa organized by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). The tournament was introduced to develop the woman's ...


National

* {{Flagicon, Albania
Kategoria Superiore Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...
* {{Flagicon, Albania
Kategoria e Parë Kategoria e Parë is the second tier of professional football in Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Se ...
* {{Flagicon, Albania
Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...
* {{Flagicon, Algeria
Algerian Ligue 2 The Algerian Ligue 2, also called Ligue 2, formerly known as Ligue Professionnelle 2 and Championnat National 2, is the second highest division overall in the Algerian football league system. Administered by the Ligue Nationale du Football Amate ...
* {{Flagicon, Algeria
Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...
* {{Flagicon, Algeria
Algerian Women's D1 National Championship The Division 1 National Championship () is the second-highest division of women's association football in Algeria. The competition is run by the Ligue Nationale du Football Féminin under the auspices of the Algerian Football Federation. History ...
* {{Flagicon, Aruba
Aruban Division di Honor Aruban Division di Honor or Campeonato AVB Aruba Bank is the top level association football league in Aruba. It is overseen by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond and was created in 1960. Up to and including 1985, the top clubs from Aruba also entered ...
* {{Flagicon, Anguilla
AFA Senior Male League AFA Senior Male League or the AFA League is the top division in Anguilla, it was created in 1997. The 4,000 capacity Ronald Webster Park is a venue used for league matches. Most league games take place in front of dozens of spectators. AFA Leag ...
* {{Flagicon, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan First League The Azerbaijan First League () is the second highest professional division in Azerbaijani professional football. The league is run by AFFA. The winner promotes to Premier Division. History Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all Azerbai ...
* {{Flagicon, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Second League The Azerbaijan Second League () is the third highest professional division in Azerbaijani professional football (soccer), football. Competition format The Second League currently consists of 14 teams. All teams play each other two times. Members ...
* {{Flagicon, Bahamas
BFA Senior League The BFA Senior League is the highest championship of Association football, football in Bahamas. Before 2008 it was played between the winners of the New Providence Football League and the Grand Bahama Football League. In 2008 the two leagues fro ...
* {{Flagicon, Barbados
Barbados Premier League The Premier League is the top Association football, football league in Barbados. It was created in 1947 and is headed by the Barbados Football Association. Ten teams participate in this league. It is known as the Digicel Premier League for sponso ...
* {{Flagicon, Benin Benin Super Ligue Pro * {{Flagicon, Bermuda
Bermudian Premier Division The Bermudian Premier Division (officially the Digicel Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the highest level of professional Association football, football in Bermuda. Clubs compete for the national title and a spot in the CONCACAF C ...
* {{Flagicon, Bhutan
Bhutan Premier League The Bhutan Premier League, currently known as the Bank of Bhutan Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the men's highest division of professional football in Bhutan. It also provides Bhutan's entrant for continental competition, the AFC ...
* {{Flagicon, British Virgin Islands
BVIFA National Football League The BVIFA National Football League is the highest level football league in the British Virgin Islands. The league was founded in 2009 after the merger between the Tortola League and the Virgin Gorda League. History Originally, there were two ...
* {{Flagicon, Burkina Faso
Burkinabé Premier League The Fasofoot D1 is the top division of the Burkinabé Football Federation. It was created in 1961. Burkinabé Premier League clubs (2021–22) * AS Koupéla ( Koupéla) * AS Douanes (Ouagadougou) * ASEC Koudougou ( Koudougou) * ASFA Yennenga (Ou ...
* {{Flagicon, Burundi
Burundi Ligue A The Burundi Ligue A, also called Primus Ligue for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship reasons, is the highest division in Association football, football in Burundi. The league was formed in 1972 and has 16 teams. They play 30 rounds home and away dur ...
* {{Flagicon, Burundi Burundian Cup * {{Flagicon, Cape Verde
Cape Verdean Football Championship The Cape Verdean Football Championship or the Campeonato Caboverdiano de Futebol is a football competition that was created in 1976 in Cape Verde. A local championship was founded in 1953 before independence, when the islands were still part of ...
* {{Flagicon, Canada Futsal Canadian Championship * {{Flagicon, Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands Premier League The Cayman Islands League is the top football league in the Cayman Islands, created in 1980. Despite being a league competition in CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCA ...
* {{Flagicon, Central African Republic
Central African Republic League The Central African Republic League is the top football league in the Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, t ...
* {{Flagicon, Comoros
Comoros Premier League The Comoros Premier League is the top division in Comoros. It was created in 1979. Some league games take place in front of hundreds of spectators. 2021–22 Comoros Premier League Regional Leagues Grande Comoros ( Ngazidja) League *Alizé Fort ...
* {{Flagicon, Djibouti
Djibouti Premier League The Djibouti Premier League is the highest division in association football in Djibouti. It was formed in 1987. ASAS Djibouti Télécom is the most successful club in the Djibouti Premier League, having won a total of 7 championships. Clubs 202 ...
* {{Flagicon, Dominica
Dominica Premier League The Dominica Premier League is the top division for association football in Dominica, it was created in 1970. Ten clubs participate in the league. Starting in 2005, the winner and runners-up can qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup from the fi ...
* {{Flagicon, Equatorial Guinea
Equatoguinean Primera División The Liga de Fútbol de Guinea Ecuatorial (LIFGE, formerly known as Liga Semiprofesional and Primera División de Honor) is the top division of the Equatoguinean football league system. It was founded in 1979. Prior to independence, two separate ...
* {{Flagicon, Eswatini
Premier League of Eswatini The Premier League of Eswatini, also known as the MTN Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Eswatini Football Association. It was created in 1971. In 2014, the league adopted "Vision 2022" and planned to be a fully ...
* {{Flagicon, Ethiopia Ethiopian Higher League * {{Flagicon, Fiji
Fiji Premier League The Fiji Premier League or the FPL, also called Extra Supermarket Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division men's professional football league in Fiji. Contested by ten teams, it shares a promotion and relegation system with th ...
* {{Flagicon, Malawi
Super League of Malawi Super League of Malawi, also known as the TNM Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top association football, football division in Malawi. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Malawi Regional ...
* {{Flagicon, Malawi
FDH Bank Knockout Cup The FDH Bank Knockout Cup, also known as the Malawi FAM Cup is the national association football cup competition in Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambi ...
* {{Flagicon, Malawi Malawi FAM Charity Shield * {{Flagicon, France
Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...
* {{Flagicon, Gabon
Gabon Championnat National D1 Gabon Championnat National D1 is the top division of the Gabonese Football Federation, it was created in 1968. Gabon Championnat National D1 Clubs – 2015/16 * Bitam ( Bitam) * Cercle Mbéri Sportif (Libreville) * FC 105 Libreville (Libreville) ...
* {{Flagicon, Gambia GFA League * {{Flagicon, Grenada
GFA Premier League The GFA Premier League is the top Association football, football league in Grenada. It was created in 1983 and is headed by the Grenada Football Association. 10 teams participate in this league. The 10th-placed team is relegated to the GFA First ...
* {{Flagicon, Guyana
GFF Elite League The Elite League, often referred to as GFF Elite League, is the top level of the football system in Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic B ...
* {{Flagicon, India
Gujarat Super League The Gujarat Super League is a men's franchise football league in the state of Gujarat, organized by the Gujarat State Football Association. The competition consisted of 6 teams in the initial season. All the matches are hosted at EKA Arena in ...
* {{Flagicon, India
Bandodkar Trophy The Bandodkar Trophy, currently known as the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy, is an Indian football tournament held in Goa and organized by the Goa Football Association. It was also known as the Bandodkar Gold Trophy till the 2016 edition, w ...
* {{Flagicon, India
Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...
* {{flagicon, ITA Serie C Now * {{flagicon, ITA
Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...
* {{Flagicon, Ivory Coast
Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...
* {{Flagicon, Japan
WE League Cup The WE League Cup (Japanese: WEリーグカップ) is a cup competition for women's football clubs in Japan. Results Records and statistics Performances by club Top scorers by year See also * JFA * WE League * Empress's Cup (National Cu ...
* {{Flagicon, Laos Lao League 1 * {{Flagicon, Lebanon
Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...
* {{Flagicon, Lebanon
Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...
* {{Flagicon, Lebanon
Lebanese Women's Football League The Lebanese Women's Football League () is the only league of women's football in Lebanon. It is run by the Lebanese Football Association and began in May 2008, with six teams participating in the debut season. As of the 2024–25 season, ni ...
* {{Flagicon, Lesotho
Lesotho Premier League The Lesotho Premier League, also known as Vodacom Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top football division in Lesotho and was created in 1970. Econet Telecom Lesotho was the league sponsor, from 2017/2018 to 2019/2020 season. Vodacom ...
* {{Flagicon, Liberia
LFA First Division The Liberian First Division, officially known as Orange First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of Association football, football in Liberia. The first division league began in 1956 and has only once been won by a club outs ...
* {{Flagicon, Liberia Liberian FA Cup * {{Flagicon, Lithuania
A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...
* {{Flagicon, Lithuania
I Lyga The LFF Pirma Lyga, TOPsport Pirma Lyga, or Pirma Lyga, is the second tier of professional Lithuanian football championship. Format Organized by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), I Lyga is contested by 16 teams, with the top team gain ...
* {{Flagicon, Macau
Liga de Elite Liga de Elite (; ), previously known as Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol, is the top division of the Associação de Futebol de Macau, Macau Football Association, created in 1973. The league features local players and professional foreign pl ...
* {{Flagicon, Mali
Malian Première Division Malian Première Division ( French: ''Première division malienne'') is the top division of football in Mali. Having been created in 1966, it is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The league has been professional since 2004. The official ...
* {{Flagicon, Mali
Malian Cup The Malian Cup, known as the Coupe du Mali Orange for sponsorship reasons, is the top knockout tournament of the Malien football (soccer), football. The competition is the only one where some of the clubs who won titles are based outside Bamako, ...
* {{Flagicon, Mali
Super Coupe National du Mali The Super Coupe National (French for the National Super Cup) is a match competition in Mali football, played between the Malien Première Division (Malian Premier Division) champions and the Malian Cup winners. Sometimes, if a champion also has a ...
* {{Flagicon, Mauritania
Super D1 Super D1 () is the top division of association football league system in Mauritania. It was created in 1976. Current clubs (2024–25) Previous winners Performance by club Top goalscorers Multiple hat-tricks See also * Mauritanian ...
* {{Flagicon, Mauritania
Mauritanian President's Cup The Mauritanian Cup known as Republic President Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Mauritania, Mauritanean football (soccer), football. It was created in 1976. Winners Performance by club ;Rq: * ACS Ksar ''(includes ASC Sonader Ksar)'' ...
* {{Flagicon, Mauritius
Mauritian Premier League The Mauritian Premier League is the top division of football in Mauritius. The 10-team league has been governed by the Mauritius Football Association since its establishment in 1935. League games usually take place in front of dozens of spectato ...
* {{Flagicon, Mauritius
Mauritian Cup The Mauritian Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Mauritius, Mauritian football (soccer), football. It was created in 1957
* {{Flagicon, Mauritius
Mauritian Republic Cup The Mauritian Republic Cup is an annual Mauritian football competition created by the Mauritius Football Association in 1990. It usually takes place in the summer of each year. Along with the MFA Cup, it serves as a major cup competition for teams ...
* {{Flagicon, Morocco
Moroccan Women's Championship D1 The Moroccan Women's Championship, officially the Women's Professional National Football Championship D1 (; ) is the top-division professional women's association football, women's football league in Moroccan football league system, Morocco. The co ...
* {{flagicon, NZ
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
* {{flagicon, NZ
Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are Wellington Olymp ...
* {{flagicon, NZ
Kate Sheppard Cup The Kate Sheppard Cup, currently known as the New Zealand Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup for sponsorship purposes, is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in women's association football. Founded in 199 ...
* {{Flagicon, Nicaragua
Liga Primera de Nicaragua The Liga Primera de Nicaragua is the top division of football in Nicaragua, organized by the Federación Nicaragüense de Fútbol. It was created in 1933. The league is played in two parts, the ''Torneo de Apertura'' from August through Novembe ...
* {{Flagicon, Niger
Super Ligue (Niger) The Super Ligue, formerly known as Ligue 1, is the top division of football in Niger. There are 14 teams competing in the league, which operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ligue Nationale. The league began in 1966, with Se ...
* {{Flagicon, Niger
Niger Cup The Niger Cup ''(Coupe nationale du Niger)'' is the national football competition, on a knock-out-basis in Niger. It was founded in 1974. The most successful club is Sahel SC, Sahel with 12 titles. Niger Cup Finals Performance by club Referen ...
* {{Flagicon, Oman
Oman First Division League The Oman First Division League (known as the Omantel First Division League for sponsorship purposes) is the second-highest association football, football league in Oman. Contested by 13 teams, the top 2 replace the bottom two in the Oman Profess ...
* {{Flagicon, Oman
Sultan Qaboos Cup The Sultan Qaboos Cup (), also known as the HM's Cup, is Oman's premier knockout tournament for men's football. It was officially founded in 1972 and the champions of that first edition were Al-Ahli. It was briefly known as Oman Cup. Currently, t ...
* {{Flagicon, Oman
Oman Super Cup The Oman Super Cup () is an Omani football cup competition. It has been played on and off since the first edition was held in 1999. It is the curtain raiser to the Omani football season. It pairs the previous season's Sultan Qaboos Cup winners aga ...
* {{Flagicon, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Premier Soccer League The Papua New Guinea Premier Soccer League is the men's top division of professional soccer in Papua New Guinea. It is a nationwide league formed in 2006 by Papua New Guinea Football Association. It replaced the Papua New Guinea National Club ...
* {{Flagicon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
SVGFF Premier Division SVGFF Premier Division is the top division league of football in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is organized by the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, under the National Club Championships umbrella. The Premier League be ...
* {{Flagicon, San Marino
Campionato Sammarinese Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio (English translation: Sammarinese Football Championship) is the highest competition for football clubs located at the only level of the Sammarinese football league system (no relegation system exists) and has ...
* {{Flagicon, San Marino
Coppa Titano The Coppa Titano is the national football (soccer), football cup of San Marino. It was first awarded in 1937. Cup Winners *1937 : A.C. Libertas, Libertas ''not played from 1938 to 1949'' *1950 : A.C. Libertas, Libertas ''not played from 1951 to 19 ...
* {{Flagicon, Seychelles
Seychelles Premier League Seychelles Premier League is the top division of the Seychelles Football Federation, it was created in 1979. League matches usually take place in front of dozens of spectators. Seychelles Premier League 2017 Previous winners *1979 : Saint-Lo ...
* {{Flagicon, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone National Premier League Sierra Leone National Premier League is a professional football league in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1967. The league is sponsored by Leone Rock Metal Group. East End Lions and Mighty Blackpool are the two biggest and most successful clubs ...
* {{Flagicon, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands S-League The Solomon Islands S-League, commonly known as just the S-League (and formerly known as the Telekom S-League until 2025 for sponsorship reasons), is a semi professional league and the top division of the Solomon Islands Football Federation. It ...
* {{Flagicon, South Sudan
South Sudan Premier League The South Sudan Premier League (SSPL) is the top professional football league in South Sudan. Established in 21 December 2024 and operates under the governance of the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA). The League represent the highest tie ...
* {{Flagicon, Saint Kitts and Nevis
SKNFA Premier League The SKNFA Premier League, known for sponsorship reasons as the SKNFA National Bank Premier League (previously SKNFA Digicel Super League), is the Saint Kitts top division, created in 1932 and organized by the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Associat ...
* {{Flagicon, Suriname
Suriname Major League The Suriname Major League (SML) is the Professionalism in association football, professional Association football league, football league in Suriname. The competition was launched on 22 February 2024, by the Surinamese Football Association as a su ...
* {{Flagicon, Togo
Togolese Championnat National The Championnat National de Premiere Division is a football league featuring clubs from Togo, and is the primary competition of Togolese football. Founded in 1961, it is administered by the Togolese Football Federation. 2021−22 clubs Group ...
* {{Flagicon, Trinidad and Tobago
TT Premier Football League The TT Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad an ...
* {{Flagicon, Tunisia
Tunisian Women's Championship The Tunisian Women's Championship () is the top flight of women's association football in Tunisia. It is the women's equivalent of the Ligue 1. The competition is run by the ''Ligue Nationale du Football Féminin (LNFF)'' under the auspices of the ...
* {{Flagicon, Turks and Caicos Islands
Provo Premier League The Provo Premier League is the top division of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association. Despite being a league competition in CONCACAF none of the Turks and Caicos' teams ever played in the CFU Club Championship nor CONCACAF Champions ...
* {{Flagicon, UAE
UAE First Division League UAE First Division League is the second tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates. As of 2020–21, the league features 15 sides who play each other in a home and away round-robin format, with a total of 28 games for each t ...
* {{Flagicon, UAE
UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a association football, football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between Football team, clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifi ...
* {{Flagicon, Venezuela Liga FUTVE2


Channels

* TrueVsions Now (FIFA+) 634


Corruption

{{Further, 2015 FIFA corruption case In May 2006, British investigative reporter
Andrew Jennings Andrew Jennings (3 September 1943 – 8 January 2022) was a British investigative reporter. He was best known for his work investigating and writing about corruption in the IOC and FIFA. Early life Jennings was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, ...
' book ''Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging, and Ticket Scandals'' (
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
) caused controversy within the football world by detailing an alleged international cash-for-contracts scandal following the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner
International Sport and Leisure International Sport and Leisure (ISL) was a Swiss sports marketing company that was closely bound to FIFA. History ISL was established by former Adidas boss Horst Dassler, and was associated with FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and th ...
(ISL) and revealed how some football officials had been urged to secretly repay the sweeteners they received. The book also alleged that vote-rigging had occurred in the fight for
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
's continued control of FIFA as the organization's president. Shortly after the release of ''Foul!'' a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'' exposé by Jennings and BBC producer Roger Corke, screened on 11 June 2006, reported that Blatter was being investigated by Swiss police over his role in a secret deal to repay more than £1m worth of
bribes Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...
pocketed by football officials.
Lord Triesman David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman (born 30 October 1943) is a British politician, merchant banker and former trade union leader. Triesman is a Labour member of the House of Lords. Triesman previously sat as a Labour peer until resigning th ...
, the former chairman of the English Football Association, described FIFA as an organization that "behaves like a
mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
family," highlighting the organization's "decades-long traditions of bribes, bungs, and corruption". All testimonies offered in the ''Panorama'' exposé were provided through a disguised voice, appearance, or both, save one:
Mel Brennan Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (includin ...
, a former CONCACAF official, became the first high-level football insider to go public with substantial allegations of corruption, nonfeasance, and malfeasance by CONCACAF and FIFA leadership. Brennan—the highest-level African-American in the history of world football governance—joined Jennings, Trinidadian journalist Lisana Liburd, and many others in exposing allegedly inappropriate allocations of money by CONCACAF and drew connections between ostensible CONCACAF criminality and similar behaviours at FIFA. Since then, and in the light of fresh allegations of corruption by FIFA in late 2010, both Jennings and Brennan remain highly critical of FIFA. Brennan has called directly for an alternative to FIFA to be considered by the stakeholders of the sport worldwide. In a further ''Panorama'' exposé broadcast on 29 November 2010, Jennings alleged that three senior FIFA officials,
Nicolas Leoz Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
,
Issa Hayatou Issa Hayatou (9 August 1946 – 8 August 2024) was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as th ...
and
Ricardo Teixeira Ricardo Terra Teixeira (; born June 20, 1947) is the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). He was in the office from January 16, 1989 to March 12, 2012. In July 2012 a Swiss prosecutor's report revealed that, during his ...
, had been paid huge bribes by ISL between 1989 and 1999, which FIFA had failed to investigate. Jennings claimed they appeared on a list of 175 bribes paid by ISL, totalling about $100 million. A former ISL executive said there were suspicions within the company that they were only awarded the marketing contract for successive World Cups by paying bribes to FIFA officials. The program also alleged that another current official, Jack Warner, has been repeatedly involved in reselling World Cup tickets to touts; Blatter said that FIFA had not investigated the allegation because it had not been told about it via 'official channels.' ''Panorama'' also alleged that FIFA requires nations bidding to host the World Cup to agree to implement special laws, including a blanket
tax exemption Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
for FIFA and its corporate sponsors and limitation of
workers rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, th ...
. Contrary to FIFA's demands, these conditions were revealed by the Dutch government, resulting in them being told by FIFA that their bid could be adversely affected. Following Jennings' earlier investigations, he was banned from all FIFA press conferences for reasons he claimed had not been made clear. The accused officials failed to answer questions about his latest allegations verbally or by letter. Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
and Andy Anson, head of England's World Cup bid, criticized the timing of the broadcast three days before FIFA decided on the host for the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
, because it might damage England's bid; the voters included officials accused by the program. In June 2011, it came to light that the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
had started inquiry proceedings against FIFA honorary president
João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who was the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in ...
into claims of bribery. ''Panorama'' alleged that Havelange accepted a $1 million 'bung' in 1997 from ISL. The IOC stated that it "takes all allegations of corruption very seriously, and we would always ask for any evidence of wrongdoing involving any IOC members to be passed to our ethics commission". In a 2014 interview, American sportswriter
Dave Zirin Dave Zirin (; born 1974), is an American political sportswriter. He is the sports editor for ''The Nation'', a weekly progressive magazine dedicated to politics and culture, and writes a blog named ''Edge of Sports: the weekly sports column by ...
said that corruption is endemic to FIFA leadership and that the organization should be abolished for the game's good. He said that currently, FIFA is in charge of both monitoring corruption in association football matches and marketing and selling the sport, but that two "separate" organizational bodies are needed: an organizational body that monitors corruption and match-fixing and the like and an organization that's responsible for marketing and sponsorships and selling the sport. Zirin said the idea of having a single organization responsible for both seems highly ineffective and detrimental to the sport. In May 2015, 14 people were arrested, including nine FIFA officials, after being accused of corruption. In the 2022 World Cup bid, Qatar was honoured to host the World Cup. Since then it has been discovered that Qatar paid as much as $200 billion to host the World Cup. This information was discovered by the Tass news agency in Russia.


Guilty pleas

Between 2013 and 2015 four individuals, and two sports television rights corporations pleaded guilty to United States financial misconduct charges. The pleas of
Chuck Blazer Charles Gordon Blazer (April 26, 1945 – July 12, 2017) was an American soccer administrator, who held a number of high level positions before becoming a government informant on widespread corruption within organized soccer and subsequently be ...
, José Hawilla, Daryan Warner, Darrell Warner,
Traffic Group Traffic Group is a sports event management company founded in Brazil, headquartered in São Paulo. History Traffic Group holds the television rights to a number of association football matches in the Americas including Copa América, Copa Lib ...
and
Traffic Sports USA Traffic Sports USA, based in Miami, is a soccer event management company in the North American, Central American and Caribbean region. Operation A division of Traffic Group, Traffic Sports USA has been responsible for organizing and/or commercia ...
were unsealed in May 2015. In another 2015 case, Singapore also imposed a 6-year "harshest sentence ever received for match-fixing" on match-fixer Eric Ding who had bribed three Lebanese FIFA football officials with prostitutes as an inducement to fix future matches that they would officiate, as well as perverting the course of justice.


Indictments and arrests

Fourteen FIFA officials and marketing executives were indicted by the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
in May 2015. The officials were
arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
in Switzerland and are in the process of extradition to the US. Specific charges (brought under the
RICO The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was ...
act) include
wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
,
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
, and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
. "Swiss authorities say they have also opened a separate criminal investigation into FIFA's operations pertaining to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids". FIFA's top officials were arrested at a hotel in Switzerland on suspicion of receiving bribes totalling $100m (£65m). The US Department of Justice stated that nine FIFA officials and four executives of sports management companies were arrested and accused of over $150m in bribes. The UK Shadow Home Secretary and Labour Member of Parliament,
Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...
, stated in May 2015 that England should boycott the 2018 World Cup against corruption in FIFA and military aggression by Russia.


2018 and 2022 World Cup bids

{{further, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids, Garcia Report FIFA's choice to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has been widely criticized by media. It has been alleged that some FIFA inside sources insist that the Russian kickbacks of cash and gifts given to FIFA executive members were enough to secure the Russian 2018 bid weeks before the result was announced. Sepp Blatter was widely criticized in the media for giving a warning about the "evils of the media" in a speech to FIFA executive committee members shortly before they voted on the hosting of the 2018 World Cup, a reference to ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' exposés, and the ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'' investigation. Two members of FIFA's executive committee were banned from all football-related activity in November 2010 for allegedly offering to sell their votes to undercover newspaper reporters. In early May 2011, a British parliamentary inquiry into why England failed to secure the 2018 finals was told by a member of parliament,
Damian Collins Damian Noel Thomas Collins (born 4 February 1974) is a British politician who served as a junior Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport between July and October 2022. A member of the ...
, that there was evidence from ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper that
Issa Hayatou Issa Hayatou (9 August 1946 – 8 August 2024) was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as th ...
of Cameroon and
Jacques Anouma Jacques Anouma (born 11 December 1951) is a football administrator and a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association footb ...
of Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar. Qatar has categorically denied the allegations, as have Hayatou and Anouma. FIFA president Blatter said, {{as of, 2011, May, 23, lc=y, that the British newspaper ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' has agreed to bring its whistle-blowing source to meet senior FIFA officials, who will decide whether to order a new investigation into alleged World Cup bidding corruption. "
he ''Sunday Times'' He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
are happy, they agreed that they will bring this whistleblower here to Zürich and then we will have a discussion, an investigation of this", Blatter said. Specifically, the whistle-blower claims that FIFA executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar. The emirate's bid beat the United States in a final round of voting last December. Blatter did not rule out reopening the 2022 vote if corruption could be proved, but urged taking the matter "step by step". The FIFA president said his organization is "anxiously awaiting" more evidence before asking its ethics committee to examine allegations made in Britain's Parliament in early May 2011. Hayatou, who is from Cameroon, leads the
Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...
and is a FIFA vice-president. Anouma is president of
Ivorian Football Federation The Ivorian Football Federation (; FIF) is the governing body of football in Ivory Coast and is in charge of the Ivory Coast national team and other footballing matters in the country. Staff * Mariam Dao Gabala The top teams are as follows ...
. The whistle-blower said Qatar agreed to pay a third African voter, Amos Adamu, for his support. The
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
was later suspended from voting after a FIFA ethics court ruled he solicited bribes from undercover Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists. Blatter said the newspaper and its whistle-blower would meet with FIFA secretary general,
Jérôme Valcke Jérôme Valcke (born 6 October 1960) is a French football administrator, best known as the former Secretary General of FIFA (the international governing body of the sport). He was fired on 13 January 2016 as a result of allegations arising from ...
, and legal director, Marco Villiger. Allegations against FIFA officials have also been made to the UK Parliament by
David Triesman David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman (born 30 October 1943) is a British politician, merchant banker and former trade union leader. Triesman is a Labour member of the House of Lords. Triesman previously sat as a Labour peer until resigning th ...
, the former head of England's bid and the English Football Association. Triesman told the lawmakers that four long-standing FIFA executive committee members— Jack Warner,
Nicolás Leoz Nicolás Leoz Almirón (10 September 1928 – 28 August 2019) was President of CONMEBOL (''South American Football Confederation'') from 1986 to 2013. Leoz assumed the presidency in 1986 (succeeding Teófilo Salinas Fuller) and in February 2006 ...
,
Ricardo Teixeira Ricardo Terra Teixeira (; born June 20, 1947) is the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). He was in the office from January 16, 1989 to March 12, 2012. In July 2012 a Swiss prosecutor's report revealed that, during his ...
and
Worawi Makudi Worawi Makudi () (born 29 November 1951), also referred in the media as Bung Yee (, ) is a Thai former football official. He was a member of the FIFA Council from 1997 to 2015. He served as the Football Association of Thailand's General Secreta ...
—engaged in "improper and unethical" conduct in the 2018 bidding, which was won by Russia. All six FIFA voters have denied wrongdoing. On 28 September 2015,
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
suggested that the
2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...
being awarded to Russia was planned before the voting, and that the
2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
would have then been awarded to the United States. However, this plan changed after the election ballot, and the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar instead of the US. According to leaked documents seen by ''The Sunday Times'', Qatari state-run television channel Al Jazeera secretly offered $400 million to FIFA, for broadcasting rights, just 21 days before FIFA announced that Qatar would hold the 2022 World Cup.{{cite news , url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Qatar-offered-FIFA-880-million-for-hosting-the-2022-World-Cup-582998 , title=Qatar offered FIFA $880 million for hosting the 2022 World Cup - report, first1= Alon , last1=Einhorn , work=The Jerusalem Post , date=10 March 2019 , access-date=10 March 2019 , archive-date=11 March 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311064625/https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Qatar-offered-FIFA-880-million-for-hosting-the-2022-World-Cup-582998 , url-status=live On 17 July 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by Sepp Blatter, the president of the FIFA,{{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/jul/17/fifa-michael-j-garcia-football-corruption, title=Fifa appoints Michael J Garcia to investigate football corruption, agency=Associated Press , date=17 July 2012 , website=The Guardian , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007151341/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/jul/17/fifa-michael-j-garcia-football-corruption , archive-date= 7 October 2023 the organization appointed US lawyer
Michael J. Garcia Michael John Garcia (born October 3, 1961) is an American attorney and former government official. Since February 2016, he has served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, that state's highest court. He is a former U.S. Attorney ...
as the chairman of the investigative chamber of
FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIFA ...
, while German judge
Hans-Joachim Eckert Hans-Joachim Eckert (born 1948, in Plochingen) is a German jurist. He was Presiding Judge of the business court division at the Regional Court Munich I from October 2005 to July 2015. Between 17 July 2012 and 10 May 2017, he was the first chairm ...
was appointed as the chairman of the Ethics Committee's
adjudication Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation, including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants, to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between th ...
chamber.{{cite web, title=FIFA unveils new crime fighting duo to tackle corruption in soccer, url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/17/sport/football/football-fifa-ethics-corruption/, publisher=
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
, date=17 July 2012 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016094614/https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/17/sport/football/football-fifa-ethics-corruption/ , archive-date= 16 October 2023
In August 2012, Garcia declared his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to respectively award the right to host the 2018 and 2022
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
to
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
by the
FIFA Executive Committee The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congr ...
. Garcia delivered his subsequent 350-page
report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...
in September 2014, and Eckert then announced that it would not be made public for legal reasons.{{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/24/michael-garcia-fifa-investigation-public-world-cup, title=FIFA prosecutor Michael Garcia calls for World Cup report to be made public, work=
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, date=24 September 2014 , first1=Owen , last1=Gibson , url-status=live , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004100435/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/24/michael-garcia-fifa-investigation-public-world-cup , archive-date= 4 October 2023
On 13 November 2014, Eckert released a 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing Garcia's report. The summary cleared both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,{{cite news , date=13 November 2014 , title=FIFA corruption report: Who is to blame and what happens now? , url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30042309 , agency=BBC , first1=Richard , last1=Conway , url-status=live , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221130112522/https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/30042309 , archive-date= 30 November 2022 leaving Russia and Qatar free to stage their respective World Cups.{{cite news, date=13 November 2014 , title=FIFA under fire after report on Qatar, Russia , url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4de5fea12fc44b86bd7221bb429f360f/fifa-clears-russia-and-qatar-host-world-cup , agency=Associated Press , first1=Graham , last1=Dunbar , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116023958/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4de5fea12fc44b86bd7221bb429f360f/fifa-clears-russia-and-qatar-host-world-cup , archive-date=16 November 2014 FIFA welcomed "the fact that a degree of closure has been reached", while the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
wrote that the Eckert summary "was denounced by critics as a
whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...
". Hours after the Eckert summary was released, Garcia himself criticized it for being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions", while declaring his intention to appeal to FIFA's Appeal Committee. On 16 December 2014, FIFA's Appeal Committee dismissed Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary as "not admissible". FIFA also stated that Eckert's summary was "neither legally binding nor appealable". A day later, Garcia resigned from his role as FIFA ethics investigator in protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lost confidence in the independence of Eckert from FIFA. In June 2015, Swiss authorities claimed the report was of "little value". In November 2022, the FIFA officials told players not to get involved in politics but focus on sports when they are in Qatar. A few weeks earlier, the football associations and players of Denmark and Australia criticized Qatar for this.


2011 FIFA presidential election

FIFA announced on 25 May 2011 that it had opened the investigation to examine the conduct of four officials—
Mohamed Bin Hammam Mohammed bin Hammam (; born 8 May 1949) is a Qatari former football administrator. He was president of the Asian Football Confederation from 2002 to 2011, and a member of FIFA's 24-man executive committee from 1996 to 2011. On 23 July 2011, B ...
and Jack Warner, along with
Caribbean Football Union The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football (soccer), football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated with FIFA. The Union was e ...
(CFU) officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester—in relation to claims made by executive committee member,
Chuck Blazer Charles Gordon Blazer (April 26, 1945 – July 12, 2017) was an American soccer administrator, who held a number of high level positions before becoming a government informant on widespread corruption within organized soccer and subsequently be ...
. Blazer, who was at the time, the general secretary of the
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
confederation, has alleged that violations were committed under the FIFA code of ethics during a meeting organized by Bin Hammam and Warner on 10 and 11 May—the same time Lord Triesman had accused Warner of demanding money for a World Cup 2018 vote—in relation to the 2011 FIFA presidential election, in which Bin Hammam, who also played a key role in the
Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid was a successful bid by Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. With a population of 2 million people, Qatar was the first Arab state to host the World Cup. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son o ...
, allegedly offered financial incentives for votes cast in his favour during the presidential election. As a result of the investigation both Bin Hammam and Warner were suspended. Warner reacted to his suspension by questioning Blatter's conduct and adding that FIFA secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, had told him via e-mail that Qatar had bought the 2022 World Cup.{{cite news , url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/06/02/football.fifa.blatter.kissinger/ , title=Blatter tips Henry Kissinger for role on FIFA 'Solutions Committee' , publisher=CNN , date=2 June 2011 , access-date=9 July 2011 , archive-date=22 July 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722130535/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/06/02/football.fifa.blatter.kissinger/ , url-status=dead Valcke subsequently issued a statement denying he had suggested it was bribery, saying instead that the country had "used its financial muscle to lobby for support". Qatar officials denied any impropriety. Bin Hammam also responded by writing to FIFA, protesting unfair treatment in suspension by the FIFA Ethics Committee and FIFA administration. Further evidence emerged of alleged corruption. On 30 May 2011, Fred Lunn, vice-president of the
Bahamas Football Association The Bahamas Football Association (BFA), is the official governing body of the sport of Association football in The Bahamas. Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Nassau, the federation is a full member of FIFA since 1968 and governs Bahamian foo ...
, said that he was given $40,000 in cash as an incitement to vote for FIFA presidential candidate, Mohamed bin Hammam. In addition, on 11 June 2011 Louis Giskus, president of the
Surinamese Football Association The Surinamese Football Association ( ) is the governing body of football in Suriname. It organizes the Surinamese football league system, the Surinamese Cup, Suriname President's Cup, Suriname national football team, and the Suriname women's ...
, alleged that he was given $40,000 in cash for "development projects" as an incentive to vote for Bin Hammam.


Response to allegations

After being re-elected as president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter responded to the allegations by promising to reform FIFA in wake of the bribery scandal, with Danny Jordaan, CEO of the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
in South Africa, saying there is great expectation for reform. Former US Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
is being tipped for a role on the newly proposed 'Solutions Committee', and former
Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...
player
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...
was also being linked with a role.
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
secretary-general
Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (); (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian Association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and the president of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 26 Febr ...
said he hopes for "concrete" measures to be taken by the world game's authority. Saying that "the UEFA executive committee has taken note of the will of FIFA to take concrete and effective measures for good governance ... nd isfollowing the situation closely."
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
president
Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator, former athlete, and physician, who served as the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 201 ...
commented on the situation by saying that he believes FIFA "can emerge stronger" from its worst-ever crisis, stating that "I will not point a finger and lecture ... I am sure FIFA can emerge stronger and from within". Several of FIFA's partners and sponsors have raised concerns about the allegations of corruption, including
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
,
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
,
Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...
and
Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...
.{{cite news , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8548440/Fifa-corruption-claims-What-the-sponsors-are-saying.html , archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8548440/Fifa-corruption-claims-What-the-sponsors-are-saying.html , archive-date=10 January 2022 , url-access=subscription , url-status=live , title=Fifa corruption claims: What the sponsors are saying , newspaper=Telegraph , date=1 June 2011 , access-date=9 July 2011 , location=London{{cbignore Coca-Cola raised concerns by saying "the current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport"; with Adidas saying "the negative tenor of the public debate around Fifa at the moment is neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners"; moreover Emirates raised its concerns by saying "we hope that these issues will be resolved as soon as possible"; and Visa adding "the current situation is clearly not good for the game and we ask that Fifa take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised." Australian Sports Minister
Mark Arbib Mark Victor Arbib (born 9 November 1971) is an Australian sports administrator and executive, a former Australian Labor Party, Labor Party politician and trade unionist. In 2015, he joined Australian Athletics, Athletics Australia where he se ...
said it was clear FIFA needed to change, saying "there is no doubt there needs to be reform of FIFA. This is something that we're hearing worldwide", with
Australian Senator The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chapter I of the federal constitution as well as feder ...
Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; ; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was a Australian Senate, Senator for South Australia from 2008 until 2017. As a centrist, populist, independent politician, he twice sh ...
accusing FIFA of "scamming" the country out of the A$46 million (US$35 million) it spent on the Australia 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, saying that "until the investigation into FIFA has been completed, Australia must hold off spending any more taxpayers' money on any future World Cup bids."
Theo Zwanziger Theo Zwanziger (born 6 June 1945) is a German lawyer and sports official. He was the president of the German Football Association (DFB) from 2006 to 2012. For his contributions to German football, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2005. ...
, president of the
German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...
, also called on FIFA to re-examine the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...
, which had called on FIFA to postpone the election pending a full independent investigation, renewed its call on FIFA to change its governance structure. Moreover, former
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
football player
Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
was critical of FIFA in light of the corruption scandal, comparing members of the board to dinosaurs. He said "Fifa is a big museum. They are dinosaurs who do not want to relinquish power. It's always going to be the same." In October 2011,
Dick Pound Richard William Duncan Pound (born March 22, 1942), better known as Dick Pound, is a Canadian swimming champion, lawyer, and spokesman for ethics in sport. He was the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency and vice-president ...
criticized the organization, saying, "FIFA has fallen far short of a credible demonstration that it recognizes the many problems it faces, that it has the will to solve them, that it is willing to be transparent about what it is doing and what it finds, and that its conduct in the future will be such that the public can be confident in the governance of the sport."


2018 revision of code of ethics

In 2018, FIFA revised its code of ethics to remove corruption as one of the enumerated bases of ethical violations.{{cite news , last=Harris , first=Rob , title=Keep bribes quiet for 10 years, FIFA won't punish you , url=https://apnews.com/d165d80179aa4117a260a1a5e65eafb6 , access-date=14 August 2018 , work=Associated Press , date=14 August 2018 , archive-date=14 August 2018 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814012303/https://apnews.com/d165d80179aa4117a260a1a5e65eafb6 , url-status=live It retained bribery, misappropriation of funds and manipulation of competitions as offences, but added a
statute of limitation A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...
clause that those offences could not be pursued after a ten-year period. The revision also made it an offence to make public statements of a defamatory nature against FIFA. Alexandra Wrage, a former member of the FIFA governance committee and an expert in anti-bribery compliance, said that of the revision that "the real value to FIFA is the
chilling effect In a legal context, a chilling effect is the inhibition or discouragement of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction. A chilling effect may be caused by legal actions such as the passing of a law, th ...
this will have on critics". In October 2024 more than 100 female footballers sent an open letter to FIFA demanding the organization to end its sponsor deal with Saudi oil company
Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- lar ...
, due to the continuous human rights violations, women's rights abuses and criminalisation of homosexuality in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
.{{Cite web , date=2024-10-21 , title=Women footballers urge Fifa to end Saudi sponsorship deal with Aramco , url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c39l89dv90zo , access-date=2024-10-22 , website=BBC Sport , language=en-GB


See also

*
Association football culture Association football culture, or football culture, refers to the cultural aspects surrounding the game of association football. As the sport is global, the culture of the game is diverse, with varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness in ...
*
Association football tactics and skills Team tactics as well as individual skills are integral for playing association football. In theory, association football is a very simple game, as illustrated by Kevin Keegan's namely assertion that his tactics for winning a match were to "scor ...
*
FIFA (video game series) ''FIFA'' was a football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. As of 2011, the ''FIFA'' franchise has been localized into 18 languages and available in 51 countries. Listed in Guinness World Re ...
* List of association football clubs * List of association football competitions * List of association football stadiums by country * List of women's national association football teams * List of top association football goal scorers * List of women's association football clubs * Lists of men's association football players *
FIFA Congress The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Association Football Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA . FIFA is the international governing body of ...


Notes

{{Notelist


References

{{Reflist


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.


External links

{{Commons category {{Wikiquote * {{Official website
FIFA Museum website
{{FIFA navbox {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#326295; color:#ffffff , list= {{Association football {{International football {{International women's football {{International club football {{International women's club football {{National football teams {{International futsal {{International Club Futsal {{International Beach Soccer {{International Sports Federations {{Authority control {{Coord, 47, 22, 53, N, 8, 34, 28, E, region:CH-ZH_type:landmark, display=title {{Portal bar, Sports, Association football, Women's association football FIFA, 1904 establishments in France Association football governing bodies, * Organisations based in Zurich International sports organisations based in Switzerland Sports organizations established in 1904 Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, football