FIFA is the international governing body of association football, beach football, and futsal. It was formed in 1904 to manage international competition among Belgian, Danish, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, and Swiss clubs. Its membership includes 211 national associations. National associations must also be members of one of six regional confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia and Australia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL (South America).
FIFA's Statutes include expanding association football internationally, making it accessible to all, and promoting integrity and fair play. It organises and promotes association football's main international competitions, including the 1930 and 1991 World Cups. FIFA does not set the rules of the game, which is the duty of the International Football Association Board, but it applies and enforces them in all FIFA competitions. All FIFA tournaments produce sponsorship revenue; in 2018, FIFA had revenues of over $4.6 billion, a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $2.7 billion.
Investigative journalists have linked FIFA leadership to corruption, bribery, and vote-rigging relating to Sepp Blatter's election and the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Nine high-ranking FIFA officials and five corporate executives were indicted on racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering accusations. On May 27, 2015, Swiss authorities arrested some of these people in a separate criminal probe into how FIFA awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Those indicted in the U.S. are anticipated to be extradited there.
Sepp Blatter[11] and Michel Platini were suspended by FIFA's ethics committee.
[12] Early in 2017, accusations surfaced that FIFA president Gianni Infantino tried to prevent the re-election of both ethics committee chairmen, Cornel Borbély and Hans-Joachim Eckert, during the May 2017 FIFA congress. [14] [15] FIFA Council opted not to renew Borbély and Eckert's mandates on 9 May 2017, per Infantino's request. [16] 11 of 13 committee members were removed, including the chairmen.
