FIFA- WORLD FOOTBALL GOVERNING BODIES

History of FIFA - Foundation

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in the rear of the headquarters of the Union Française de Sports Athlétiques at the Rue Saint Honoré 229 in Paris on 21 May 1904. The foundation act was signed by the authorised representatives of the following associations:

• France - Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA)
• Belgium - Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports (UBSSA)
• Denmark - Dansk Boldspil Union (DBU)
• Netherlands - Nederlandsche Voetbal Bond (NVB)
• Spain - Madrid Football Club
• Sweden - Svenska Bollspells Förbundet (SBF)
• Switzerland - Association Suisse de Football (ASF)

Present at that historic meeting were: Robert Guérin and André Espir (France); Louis Muhlinghaus and Max Kahn (Belgium); Ludvig Sylow (Denmark); Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschman (Netherlands); Victor E Schneider (Switzerland). Sylow also represented the SBF while Spir performed the same function for the Madrid Football Club.

When the idea of founding an international football federation began taking shape in Europe, the intention of those involved was to recognise the role of the English who had founded their Football Association back in 1863. Hirschman, secretary of the Netherlands Football Association, turned to the Football Association. Its secretary, FJ Wall, did accept the proposal but progress stalled while waiting for the Executive Committee of the Football Association, the International FA Board and the associations of Scotland, Wales and Ireland to give their opinion about the matter.

Guérin, secretary of the football department of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques and a journalist with Le Matin newspaper, did not want to wait any longer. He contacted the national associations on the continent in writing and asked them to consider the possibility of founding an umbrella organisation.

When Belgium and France met in the first official international match in Brussels on 1 May 1904, Guérin discussed the subject with his Belgian counterpart Louis Muhlinghaus. It was now definite that the English FA, under its president Lord Kinnaird, would not be participating in the foundation of an international federation. So Guérin took the opportunity and sent out invitations to the founding assembly. The process of organising the international game had begun.

The first FIFA Statutes were laid down and the following points determined: the reciprocal and exclusive recognition of the national associations represented and attending; clubs and players were forbidden to play simultaneously for different national associations; recognition by the other associations of a player's suspension announced by an association; and the playing of matches according to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association Ltd.

Each national association had to pay an annual fee of FF50. Already then there were thoughts of staging an international competition and Article 9 stipulated that FIFA alone was entitled to take over the organisation of such an event. It was decided that these regulations would only come into force as of 1 September 1904. Moreover, the first Statutes of FIFA were only of a provisional nature, in order to simplify the acceptance of additional members. On the day of foundation, the Deutscher Fussball-Bund (German FA) sent a telegram confirming that it would adhere to these Statutes in principle.

 

History of FIFA - FIFA takes shape

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The first FIFA Congress followed immediately and on 22 May 1904, Robert Guerin was elected as President. Victor E Schneider (Switzerland) and Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschman (Netherlands) were made Vice-Presidents. Louis Muhlinghaus (Belgium) was appointed Secretary and Treasurer, with the assistance of Ludvig Sylow (Denmark). These pioneers were faced with an immense task because FIFA only existed on paper, as it were. Now came the real work: to give this new body shape and attract new members. In the first place, the English had to be convinced that their membership of this newly created organisation was indispensable.

On 14 April 1905, the Executive Committee of the FA recognised the national associations affiliated to FIFA and joined. This was FlFA's first big success and the credit was due Baron Edouard de Laveleye. With great personal effort, the president of the Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports Athlétiques dissipated the last misgivings of the English. The Baron became the first honorary member of FIFA.

The second FIFA Congress took place in Paris from 10 to 12 June 1905. In the meantime, the associations from Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary had joined FIFA; Scotland, Wales and Ireland would follow England's example. There was already talk about an international competition to take place in 1906. It would consist of four groups and Switzerland would be in charge of organising the semi-finals and the final. There was a proposal to involve the best club teams and Schneider, the Swiss Vice-President, had already donated a trophy.

The FIFA Executive Committee was elected for a further year but now the difficulties were accumulating. The first international competition was a failure. Various national associations had major worries, with the French governing body divided internally. These difficulties were a heavy burden for the FIFA President who had set about his tasks with so much enthusiasm. Guerin increasingly withdrew from the sport and handed over the administration to Vice-President Schneider and Espir, his personal assistant.

All the same, FIFA could now give a sign of its strength. When the 'English Ramblers', an improvised English football club, wanted to play games on the continent without the authorisation of the FA, FIFA forbade its members from playing against this team. The FA, which like its three fellow British associations now had a good relationship with FIFA, was particularly impressed by this strict and uncompromising stance.

This was in clear evidence at the next Congress in Berne in 1906 where - with Schneider conducting negotiations in the absence of Guérin - Daniel Burley Woolfall, an Englishman, was elected the new President. Woolfall was a pragmatist and had gathered a great deal of experience on the administrative board of the FA. Under his guidance, English and continental football became more united. Moreover, he also led the push for uniformity in the Laws of the Game.

The idea of holding a major international competition was still up in the air and so the FA in England assumed the responsibility for staging a tournament that took place as part of the Olympic Games in London in 1908. Some problems arose in the organisation, which were still unsolved four years later in 1912, when the tournament was played in Stockholm. The new sport was regarded with suspicion at the Olympics and was considered as a show and not a competition. Given the amateur ethos of the Olympics, the problem of professional players also arose - a thorny problem which would be pursued in decades to follow. England won both the 1908 and 1912 tournaments.

The Congress which, in accordance with the Statutes, was to be held in different cities on an annual basis, was always presided over by President Woolfall. The will to impose uniform football rules on an international level always featured at the top of the agenda. This had a positive effect, resulting in the basic rules of the federation, which are still partly valid today and which allowed FIFA to create a solid base and develop clear guidelines.

Under the guidance of the English President, obvious progress was also made in the administration. The first official FIFA bulletin was published. It was agreed to have French as the official language. The application of the Laws of the Game, strictly established according to the English model, became compulsory. A clear definition was made of international matches - national selections and inter-club - and outsiders were forbidden to organise games for lucrative purposes.

FIFA only consisted of European Associations up until 1909. The first members from overseas joined in the following order: South Africa in 1909/10, Argentina and Chile in 1912, United States in 1913. This was the start of FlFA's intercontinental activities. The long path towards full expansion had been sketched out.