What is FIFA?

FIFA or the Federation Internationale de Football Association is the highest governing body of football in the world. It is the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer. FIFA is a non-profit organisation.

Founded in 1904, FIFA was launched to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. FIFA now comprises 211 member nations. It is headquartered in Zurich and the current president is Gianni Infantino.

Objective of FIFA

The primary objective of FIFA is to spread football internationally, making sure that the game is accessible to everyone around the world, and to promote integrity and fair play.

FIFA is responsible for the organisation and promotion of international tournaments, including the men’s World Cup, which started in 1930, the women’s World Cup, which began in 1991. FIFA is affiliated to the International Olympic Committee and is also a member of the International Football Association Board, which is responsible for setting the rules of football. 

However, the responsibility of enforcing the rules lies with FIFA.

6 regional confederations affiliated to FIFA 

Besides FIFA, there are 6 regional confederations affiliated to FIFA, which manage football. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body for Asia and Australia. Confederation of African Football (CAF) has 56 members, Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCAF) has 41 members, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) is the South American federation with 10 members, Oceania Football Federation (OFC) has 14 members including New Zealand, and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) with 55 members is the governing body for Europe.

FIFA tournaments

FIFA conducts FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, Football at the Summer Olympics, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup, FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.

Men’s World Cup

The men’s football World Cup organised by FIFA is one the biggest sporting events of the world. It is one of the most widely viewed and followed sporting events, even surpassing the viewership of Olympics. The 2006 World Cup’s cumulative viewership of all matches was approximately 26.29 billion and an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final of the tournament.

It is held every four years. The last tournament was held in 2018 in Russia and France won the title.