International Football Association Board - History

History

Though the rules of football had largely been standardised by the early 1880s, the UK's four football associations still each had slightly different rules. This posed a problem with international matches and when matches were played the rules of whoever was the home team were used. While this solution was workable, it was hardly ideal. To remedy this, the FA, SFA, FAW and the IFA met on 6 December 1882 in Manchester, in order to set forth a common set of rules that could be applied to matches between the UK football associations' national teams. The conference created the first international competition, the British Home Championship, and proposed the establishment of a permanent board to regulate the laws of the game.

Therefore, the first meeting of IFAB took place at the FA's offices at Holborn Viaduct in London on Wednesday 2 June 1886. The FA, SFA, FAW and IFA each had equal voting rights.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international organising body for the sport, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to the rules laid down by IFAB. The growing popularity of the game internationally led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to IFAB in 1913. Initially, they only had two votes—the same number as each of the UK associations—and decisions required a four-fifths majority to pass, meaning that the UK associations could still change the laws against FIFA's wishes if they all voted together. In 1958, the Board agreed on its current voting system, with each UK association having one vote, FIFA four and six votes being required to carry any motion.