The Estonian Football Association (EJL; ) is the governing body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Established on 14 December 1921, it organizes the football league, including the championship which is called

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup () is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Finals ...

and the

Estonian national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium in ...

. It is based in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. EJL became a member of

FIFA 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 ...

in 1923 but was disbanded during the occupation of Estonia by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

; during this time the Estonian SSR Football Federation () organized Estonian football. It became a member of FIFA once again in 1992, following Estonia regaining its independence.

Background

In the early 20th century, all sports in Estonia were governed by the

Estonian Sports Association Kalev Estonian Sports Association Kalev () is a sports association in Estonia, founded in 1901. History The association was founded in 1901 in Tallinn as the Kalev Amateur Cyclist Society (). In 1908, a tennis club was established at the society. Lat ...

. Following success at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

, the Estonian Sports Association announced they were unable to continue to administer all sports in Estonia due to an increase in the number of sports being played. The Estonian Football Association was founded in 1921 as one of the first independent sports governing bodies in order to administer football in the country. The Estonian Football Association affiliated with FIFA in 1923. Following the occupation of Estonia by the

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1940, the Estonian Football Association was dissolved. During the

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit (Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the Occupation o ...

, football was administered by the Soviet Estonian SSR Football Federation as a regional football governing body under the

Football Federation of the Soviet Union The Football Federation of the USSR () was a governing body of football in the Soviet Union and since 1972 the main governing body of football in the country. The Federation was created in late 1934 by the decision of the '' Supreme Council of P ...

. During this time, local Estonians were dissuaded from playing football so the majority of football under communist rule was played by Russians living in Estonia. The Estonian Football Association was reformed in 1988, following the Estonian Declaration of Sovereignty, and rejoined FIFA in 1991. In 1992, they joined

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 ...

and re-established the

as the Estonian national football league. Due to UEFA broadcasting agreements in the 2020s, the Estonian Football Association are usually required to kick-off national team home games at 21:45 EET, usually resulting in having to negotiate every match with European broadcasters to bring kick-off times earlier.

Controversy

In 2017,

fined the Estonian Football Association 30,000 Swiss francs (26,000 euros) and gave them a warning because of an incident where

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

fans threw burning material onto the field.

References

External links

*
Old Estonian Football Association Official Site

at FIFA Site

at UEFA Site {{Authority control

Football in Estonia Futsal in Estonia Sports organizations established in 1921

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

1921 establishments in Estonia Association football governing bodies in Europe