FIFA

FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zurich, membership now comprises 209 national associations. Member countries must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

Although FIFA does not control the rules of soccer, it is responsible for both the organisation of a number of tournaments and their promotion, which generate revenue from sponsorship. In 2013, FIFA had revenues of over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, for a net profit of 72 million, and had cash reserves over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Reports by investigative journalists have linked the FIFA leadership with rapaciousness, corruption, and bribery, and alleged that vote rigging was involved in the election of president sepp blateer.FIFA’s choice to award the 2018 and 2022 world cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively, have been widely criticised, with allegations of vote buying.

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The need for a single body to oversee association football became 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 socoetes francaises de sports athletiques at the Rue Saint Honoré 229 in Paris on 21 May 1904. The French name and acronym persist even outside French-speaking countries. The founding members were the national associations of belgium, denmark,france, Spain (represented by madrid football club the spanish fedration was not created until 1913), sweden and switzerland . Also, that same day, the German association  declared its intention of affiliating through a telegram.

The first president of FIFA was Robert Guerin. Guérin was replaced in 1906 by Daniel burley woolfall from England, 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.

During World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited, the organisation’s survival was in doubt. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation 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 recent World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership.

The FIFA collection is held by the National football museum in England.