Football Governing Bodies
Football events and tournaments showed us the extent of the beauty of this game. This competitive environment has the ability to connect millions of people around the globe. Numerous consumers are impressed by the prolific growth and precise management of the game. In this article, we aim to demonstrate the overall system of governing football through covering the different levels of operations of the Governing bodies
Structure:
Global (International):
FIFA: Founded in 1904 and stands for Federation Internationale de Football Association (Federation of International Association Football). It might be defined as the incorporation of all football associations together. Headquartered in Zürich with a current membership comprising 211 national associations. FIFA organisational plan entails various objectives including growing football internationally and keeping its integrity and fair play as well as ensuring its accessibility to everyone. This governing body is responsible for promoting international tournaments such as FIFA World Cup and all the generated revenues are reinvested in its vision as it is a non profitable organsition. FIFA is also responsible on governing Futsal and Beach Soccer where Gianni Infantino is the current elected president of FIFA.
Continental:
FIFA-member football associations are governing the continental level. they are divided into continental confederations, which organise continental national and club competitions.
AFC: The Asian Football Confederation was founded in 1954 and currently includes 47 members. It represents Asian nations in football. The main tournament is the AFC Asian Cup.
CAF: The Confédération Africaine de Football was founded in 1957 and currently encompasses 56 members. It represents African nations in football. Its main tournament is the African Cup of Nations
CONCACAF: The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. was founded in 1961 and currently includes 41 members. It represents North American, Central American and Caribbean nations. Its main tournament is the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
CONMEBOL: The Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol was founded in 1916 and currently includes 10 members represents South American nations in football. Its main tournament is the Copa América
OFC: The Oceania Football Confederation was founded in 1966. It includes 14 members and represents Oceanian nations in football. Its main tournament is the OFC Nations Cup
UEFA: The Union of European Football Associations was founded in 1954. It includes 55 members and represents European nations in football. Its main tournament is the UEFA European Championship, also known as UEFA Euro.
Likewise, there is a system to govern continental football under Non-FIFA confiderations. Two continental confederations exist within the NF-Board which is a federation of football associations established on 12 December 2003 and defunct since January 2013. It was made up of teams that represent nations, dependencies, unrecognized states, minorities, stateless peoples, regions and micronations not affiliated to FIFA.
CSANF: Consejo Sudamericano de Nuevas Federaciones founded in 2007 and includes 5 members. It represents teams not affiliated to FIFA in South America.
NAANF: North America and Arctic New Federations founded in 2008 and includes no members. It represents non-FIFA teams in North America, Central America, Caribbean and in the Arctic region.
Intercontinental:
The following confederations consist of FIFA member associations that cross continental boundaries.
UAFA: Union of Arab Football Associations was founded in 1974, and includes 22 members. It represents Arab nations from Africa and Asia. The main tournament is the Arab Nations Cup.
Regional:
Africa; Affiliated to CAF
CECAFA: Council of East and Central African Football Associations founded in 1927 and includes 11 members. It represents nations generally regarded as forming the regions of East Africa and some nations of Central Africa. The main tournament is the CECAFA Cup.
COSAFA: Council of Southern African Football Associations founded in 1997 and includes 15 members. It represents nations generally regarded as forming Southern Africa, as well as island states off the coast of Southern Africa. Its main tournament is the COSAFA Cup.
WAFU (UFOA) : Union of West African Football Associations founded in 1977 and includes and includes 8 members. It is one of two bodies that represent nations in West Africa. Its main tournament is the WAFU Nations Cup.
UNAF: Union of North African Federations founded in 2005 and includes 5 members. It represents nations regarded as forming North Africa.
UNIFFAC: Central African Football Federations' Union - 8 members - represents some of the nations that form Central Africa. The main tournament is the CEMAC Cup.
Asia; Affiliated to AFC
WAFF: West Asian Football Federation was founded in 2000 and includes 12 members. It represents nations at the western extremity of the continent. Its main tournament is the WAFF Championship.
AGCFF: Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation was founded in 2016 and includes 8 members. It represents the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Its main tournament is the Arabian Gulf Cup.
EAFF: East Asian Football Federation was founded in 2002 and includes 10 members. It represents nations generally agreed to constitute the "far east". Its main tournament is the EAFF E-1 Football Championship.
SAFF: South Asian Football Federation was founded in 1997 and includes members. It represents nations from South Asia. Its main tournament is the SAFF Championship.
CAFA: Central Asian Football Association was founded in 2015 and includes 6 members. It represents nations from Central Asia.
Its main tournament is the CAFA Championship.
AFF: ASEAN Football Federation was founded in 1984 and includes 12 members. It represents nations from Southeast Asia. Its main tournament is the AFF Championship.
North America; Affiliated to CONCACAF:
CFU: Caribbean Football Union includes 30 members and represents all nations in the Caribbean. Its main tournament is the Caribbean Cup.
LIFA: Leeward Islands Football Association was founded in 1949 and includes 11 members. It represents nations of the Leeward archipelago and is affiliated to CFU. Its main tournament is the Leeward Islands Tournament.
WIFA: Windward Islands Football Association represents nations of the Windward archipelago and includes 4 members. It is affiliated to CFU. Its main tournament is the Windward Islands Tournament.
NAFU: North American Football Union represents the three sovereign nations of North America and includes 3 members. its main tournament was the now defunct North American Nations Cup.
UNCAF: Union Centroamericana de Fútbol represents the seven nations of Central America and includes 7 members. The main tournament is the UNCAF Nations Cup.
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 (IFAB).
IFAB: The International Football Association Board is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. It was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardian" of the internationally used Laws. FIFA recognised IFAB's jurisdiction over the Laws. It is known to take a highly conservative attitude regarding changes to the Laws of the Game. It is a separate body from FIFA, though FIFA is represented on the board and holds 50% of the voting power.
CAS: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (or TAS in French) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne (Switzerland) and its courts are located in New York City, Sydney and Lausanne.
ICAS: The International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) was established simultaneously, with the samle President of both bodies. The ICAS, which has a membership of 20 individuals, is responsible for the financing of and financial reporting by the CAS, and it appoints the Secretary-General of the CAS.