On this day, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was born. FIFA is the international self-governing body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on May 21, 1904, to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, its membership now consists of 211 national associations.

History

FIFA is a sports governing body that organizes association football events all over the world. FIFA’s main objectives are to grow the game internationally, ensure it is accessible to everyone, and advocate for integrity and fair play. It is best known for organizing and promoting association football’s major tournaments, notably the Men’s World Cup, which began in 1930, and the Women’s World Cup, which commenced in 1991. Although FIFA does not set the laws of the game, which is the responsibility of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), FIFA enforces and applies the rules across all of its competitions.

The birth of FIFA was a result of the growing number of international matches shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Football leaders realized that such expanded competition required a unified governing body, and under the leadership of Robert Guérin, a French journalist, the founding members gathered to shape the future of the sport. Guérin, FIFA’s first president, led the organization from 1904 to 1906. Seven other leaders have served as FIFA president over the years, including Jules Rimet, who held the position for 33 years from 1921 to 1954.

FIFA Today

Under this governance, football has become the world’s most popular sport. According to the Federation’s “Big Count” survey, the game is played by more than 250 million athletes worldwide and viewed by billions of fans in stadiums and on television. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil alone was broadcast in more than 200 countries, drawing over 3 million spectators into the stadiums with an average of 50,000 fans per match.

Official world championships staged by FIFA include the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, the Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups for both men and women, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and the FIFA Futsal World Cup. Moreover, FIFA oversees the men’s and women’s Olympic Football Tournaments staged in partnership with the International Olympic Committee every four years. When those seven founding members met in Paris over a century ago, could they have ever imagined that their small meeting would give rise to a global phenomenon that unites billions of people today?