FIFA - Structure

Structure

FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zurich.

FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. The Congress has met 66 times since 1904; it now assembles in ordinary session once every year and, additionally, extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. At the congress decisions are made relating to FIFA's governing statutes and their method of implication and application. Only the 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, its General Secretary, and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee on the year following the FIFA World Cup. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength.

The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of FIFA, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members. FIFA's Executive Committee, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organisation in the intervals of Congress. FIFA's worldwide organisational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee or created by Congress as standing committees. Among those bodies are the Finance Committee, the Disciplinary Committee, the Referees Committee, etc.

Besides its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Committee, Congress, etc.) there are six confederations recognised by FIFA which oversee the game in the different continents 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 confederation is a prerequisite to FIFA membership.

AFC – Asian Football Confederation

Australia has been a member of the AFC since 2006

CAF - Confederation of African Football

CONCACAF – Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football

Guyana and Suriname are CONCACAF members although they are in South America, as are French Guiana and Guadeloupe despite not being members of FIFA.

CONMEBOL – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol

OFC – Oceania Football Confederation

UEFA – Union of European Football Associations

Teams representing transcontinental nations of Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan are UEFA members, although the majority of their territory is outside of continental Europe. Cyprus and Israel are also members for political reasons. Monaco, Vatican City, Gibraltar, Kosovo and Northern Cyprus are not members of UEFA or FIFA.

In total, FIFA recognises 209 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. FIFA has more member states than the UN, as FIFA recognises 23 non-sovereign entities as distinct nations, such as the four Home Nations within the United Kingdom or politically disputed territories such as Palestine. Only 8 sovereign entities don't belong to FIFA (Monaco, Vatican City, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Palau and Nauru).

The FIFA World Rankings 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, updated four times a year.