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Home / Key Football Organisations / F.I.F.A. / Origins
On the 21 May 1904, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in the headquarters of the French Athletic Sports Union (Union Française de Sports Athlétiques) in Paris. This founding act was signed by the representative organisations from the following countries:
The first official international matches were held in Europe at the start of the Century. The F.I.F.A. representatives wanted to expand this newly formed organisation by including other major footballing countries - the English who had already established their own national Football Association were a priority. However F.I.F.A. and the English F.A. could not resolve their differences immediately. In the meantime F.I.F.A. was putting itself in order. A statute was created as the first step towards organisation and the founder members were allocated their roles within the newly formed F.I.F.A. Robert Guérin was selected as President. Victor E. Schneider (Switzerland) and Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschmann (Netherlands) were made Vice-Presidents. Louis Muhlinghaus (Belgium) was appointed Secretary and Treasurer, with Ludvig Sylow (Denmark) as his assistant. Eventually on the 14 April 1905 The Executive Committee of the English Football Association recognised the National Associations affiliated to F.I.F.A. and joined. Shortly after this decision, the Associations from Austria, Italy, Germany, and Hungary also joined FIFA. In addition Scotland, Wales and Ireland also followed the English into FIFA. |
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Origins