Last modified: 2003-08-09 by juan manuel gabino villascán
Keywords: fédération internationale de football association | international federation of football associations | fifa | football | international sports organization | sport | soccer | ball | world cup |
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by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán
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The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on 21 May 1904, by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlètiques (USFSA), the Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports (UBSSA), the Dansk Boldspil Union (DBU), the Nederlandsche Voetbal Bond (NVB), the Madrid Football Club, the Svenska Bollspells Förbundet (SBF), and the Association Suisse de Football (ASF).
One of its main goals, beside the standarisation of the "Laws of the Game", has always been the organization of international competition, and a way to accomplish this was through the organization of the Olympic Soccer tournament at the London Olympic Games of 1908. Since then the FIFA has, with the exception of the Games of 1932, organized Soccer tournaments for all Olympic Games.
The Great War caused as set-back for the ideal of uniting nations through sport, but after the war the FIFA started to grow quickly. In 1921 only 30 members were left, while by 1954 the count had risen to 85 members. In 1930, though suffering under the world-wide depression, the FIFA organized its first World Championship, which took place in Uruguay.
Nowadays, as per mid-2000, the FIFA has 204 members. It has organized
16 world-championships, and it forms the international organisation
for approximately two hundred million active players.
{4}
The image of the flag of the FIFA shows it to be blue, with on it two footballs, their height about a third of the flag's height, drawn in white, side by side, the dexter slightly obscuring the sinister. Through the colouring of their surfaces, the balls together form a map of the world in shades of blue, yellow and brown, with Africa dexter and America sinister. Below the balls are the letters FIFA in white, approximately a fifth of the flag in height. Below this is the text "For the Good of the Game" in white, in a pseudo hand-written script, approximately one eighth of the flag in height.
The current flag was most likely adopted during 1998.
{1, 2}
Circular no. 610, which was sent to the FIFA member national associations on 24 March, is a reminder as to the criteria for flying flags at international matches.
- For matches involving A-category national teams, the FIFA flag, the flag of the country of team A and team B are raised as well as that of the country, region or city in which the match is being played.
- For international matches organised by the confederations, whether involving national or club teams, the flag of the relevant confederation is also flown.
- The representatives of FIFA, the referee and assistant referees are identified as such by the FIFA flag. The national flags of their respective countries are consequently not raised.
{3}
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán
The image of the previous flag of the FIFA shows it to have been blue, with on it two footballs, their height about half of the flags height, drawn in white with mostly black details, side by side, the dexter slightly obscuring the sinister. Through the pattern on their surfaces the balls together form a map of the world, with Africa dexter and America sinister. Below the balls are the letters FIFA in yellow, with a white fringe, approximately a seventh of the flag in height.
The last reported use of this flag was during the 1998 World Championship in France. It's currently unknown when this flag was adopted, and whether it was the first flag used by the FIFA.
{1, 2}
Currently FIFA counts up 204 national football associations affiliated being the
world's second biggest sporting organization (by members) just after International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which in turn has 210 members.
{1.}
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Codes from FIFA Football Association (Country) ABR. MEMBERSHIP FOUNDED CONFEDERATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFGHANISTAN AFG AFC ALBANIA ALB UEFA ALGERIA ALG CAF AMERICAN SAMOA ASA OFC ANDORRA AND UEFA ANGOLA ANG CAF ANGUILLA AIA CONFUT ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA ATG CONFUT ARGENTINA ARG CONMEBOL ARMENIA ARM UEFA ARUBA ARU CONFUT AUSTRALIA AUS OFC AUSTRIA AUT UEFA AZERBAIJAN AZE UEFA BAHAMAS BAH CONFUT BAHRAIN BHR AFC BANGLADESH BGD AFC BARBADOS BRB CONFUT BELARUS BLR UEFA BELGIUM BEL UEFA BELIZE BLZ CONFUT BENIN BEN CAF BERMUDA BER CONFUT BHUTAN BHU AFC BOLIVIA BOL CONMEBOL BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA BIH UEFA BOTSWANA BOT CAF BRAZIL BRA CONMEBOL BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS VGB CONFUT BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BRU AFC BULGARIA BUL UEFA BURKINA FASO BFA CAF BURUNDI BDI CAF CAMBODIA CAM AFC CAMEROON CMR CAF CANADA CAN CONFUT CAPE VERDE CPV CAF CAYMAN ISLANDS CAY CONFUT CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CTA CAF CHAD TCH CAF CHILE CHI CONMEBOL CHINA CHN AFC CHINESE TAIPEI TPE AFC COLOMBIA COL CONMEBOL CONGO COG CAF CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE COD CAF COOK ISLANDS COK OFC COSTA RICA CRC CONFUT COTE D'IVOIRE CIV CAF CROATIA CRO UEFA CUBA CUB CONFUT CYPRUS CYP UEFA CZECH REPUBLIC CZE UEFA DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA PRK AFC DENMARK DEN UEFA DJIBOUTI DJI CAF DOMINICA DMA CONFUT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DOM CONFUT ECUADOR ECU CONMEBOL EGYPT EGY CAF EL SALVADOR SLV CONFUT ENGLAND ENG UEFA EQUATORIAL GUINEA EQG CAF ERITREA ERI CAF ESTONIA EST UEFA ETHIOPIA ETH CAF FAROE ISLANDS FRO UEFA FIJI FIJ OFC FINLAND FIN UEFA FRANCE FRA UEFA FRENCH POLYNESIA See TAHITI GABON GAB CAF GAMBIA GAM CAF GEORGIA GEO UEFA GERMANY GER UEFA GHANA GHA CAF GREECE GRE UEFA GRENADA GRN CONFUT GUAM GUM OFC GUATEMALA GUA CONFUT GUINEA GUI CAF GUINEA-BISSAU GNB CAF GUYANA GUY CONFUT HAITI HAI CONFUT HONDURAS HON CONFUT HONG KONG, CHINA HKG AFC HUNGARY HUN UEFA ICELAND ISL UEFC INDIA IND AFC INDONESIA IDN AFC IRAQ IRQ AFC ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN IRN AFC ISRAEL ISR UEFA ITALY ITA UEFA JAMAICA JAM CONFUT JAPAN JPN AFC JORDAN JOR AFC KAZAKHSTAN KAZ UEFA KENYA KEN CAF KOREA KOR AFC KUWAIT KUW AFC KYRGYZSTAN KGZ AFC LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC LAO AFC LATVIA LAT UEFA LEBANON LIB AFC LESOTHO LES CAF LIBERIA LBR CAF LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA LBY CAF LIECHTENSTEIN LIE UEFA LITHUANIA LTU UEFA LUXEMBOURG LUX UEFA MACAU MAC AFC MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MKD UEFA MADAGASCAR MAD CAF MALAWI MWI CAF MALAYSIA MAS AFC MALDIVES MDV AFC MALI MLI CAF MALTA MLT UEFA MAURITANIA MTN CAF MAURITIUS MRI CAF MEXICO MEX CONFUT MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF MDA UEFA MONGOLIA MGL AFC MONTSERRAT MSR CONFUT MOROCCO MAR CAF MOZAMBIQUE MOZ CAF MYANMAR MYA AFC NAMIBIA NAM CAF NEPAL NEP AFC NETHERLANDS NED UEFA NETHERLANDS ANTILLES ANT CONFUT NEW ZEALAND NZL OFC NICARAGUA NCA CONFUT NIGER NIG CAF NIGERIA NGA CAF NORTHERN IRELAND NIR UEFA NORWAY NOR UEFA OMAN OMA AFC PAKISTAN PAK AFC PALESTINE PAL AFC PANAMA PAN CONFUT PAPUA NEW GUINEA PNG OFC PARAGUAY PAR CONMEBOL PERU PER CONMEBOL PHILIPPINES PHI AFC POLAND POL UEFA PORTUGAL POR UEFA PUERTO RICO PUR CONFUT QATAR QAT AFC REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IRL UEFA ROMANIA ROM UEFA RUSSIAN FEDERATION RUS UEFA RWANDA RWA CAF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS KNA CONFUT SAINT LUCIA LCA CONFUT SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES VIN CONFUT SAMOA SAM OFC SAN MARINO SMR UEFA SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE STP CAF SAUDI ARABIA KSA AFC SCOTLAND SCO UEFA SENEGAL SEN CAF SERBIA AND MOTENEGRO (Formerly Yugoslavia) SCG UEFA SEYCHELLES SEY CAF SIERRA LEONE SLE CAF SINGAPORE SIN AFC SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic) SVK UEFA SLOVENIA SVN UEFA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOL OFC SOMALIA SOM CAF SOUTH AFRICA RSA CAF SPAIN ESP UEFA SRI LANKA SRI AFC SUDAN SUD CAF SURINAME SUR CONFUT SWAZILAND SWZ CAF SWEDEN SWE UEFA SWITZERLAND SUI UEFA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC SYR AFC TAHITI TAH OFC TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA SEE: CHINESE TAIPEI TAJIKISTAN TJK AFC THAILAND THA AFC TOGO TOG CAF TONGA TGA OFC TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TRI CONFUT TUNISIA TUN CAF TURKEY TUR UEFA TURKMENISTAN TKM AFC TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS TCA CONFUT UGANDA UGA CAF UKRAINE UKR UEFA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UAE AFC UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA TAN CAF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USA CONFUT UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS VIR CONFUT URUGUAY URU CONMEBOL UZBEKISTAN UZB AFC VANUATU VAN OFC VENEZUELA VEN CONMEBOL VIET NAM VIE AFC WALES WAL UEFA YEMEN YEM AFC YUGOSLAVIA YUG SEE: SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO ZAMBIA ZMB CAF ZIMBABWE ZIM CAF