Confederation of Independent Football Associations
Formation | 15 August 2013 |
---|---|
Type | Sports governing body |
Headquarters | Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden |
Membership | 41 member associations |
Official languages | English is the official language for minutes, correspondence, and announcements. French, German, Italian, and Spanish are additional languages[1] |
President | Per-Anders Blind |
Website | CONIFA.org |
The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA.
Competitions
Men's competitions
- CONIFA Men's World Football Cup
- CONIFA African Football Cup
- CONIFA Asian Football Cup
- CONIFA European Football Cup
- CONIFA No Limits European Championship
- CONIFA North American Football Cup
- CONIFA Oceanian Football Cup
- CONIFA South American Football Cup
National league sanctioned by CONIFA
Women's competition
Futsal competition
Current title holders
Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
World Championships | |||||
CONIFA Men's World Football Cup | 2018 (final) | Kárpátalja | 1st |
Northern Cyprus | June 2025 |
CONIFA Women's World Football Cup | 2024 (final) | Sápmi | 2nd |
Tamil Eelam | TBD |
Continental Championships | |||||
CONIFA African Football Cup | 2022 | Biafra | 1st |
Matabeleland | TBD |
CONIFA Asian Football Cup | 2023 [4] | Tamil Eelam | 1st |
Hmong FF | TBD |
CONIFA European Football Cup | 2019 (final) | South Ossetia | 1st |
Western Armenia | TBD |
CONIFA North American Football Cup | TBD | ||||
CONIFA Oceanian Football Cup | TBD | ||||
CONIFA South American Football Cup | 2022 | Maule Sur | 1st |
Mapuche | TBD |
Futsal Championship | |||||
CONIFA No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup | 2021 (final) | County of Nice | Unknown |
Sardinia | TBD |
Women's football
All members of CONIFA are encouraged to invest in women's football in their communities, and to create female national selections to play and compete against other CONIFA members.
CONIFA's first ever official women's football match took place on 10 November 2018 in Northern Cyprus, with Sápmi ladies beating their Northern Cyprus hosts 4–0 in the Women's Friendship Cup.[5] CONIFA announced their first Women's World Football Cup on 31 January 2021, to be hosted by Székely Land between 23 and 30 June 2021 and involve 6 teams.[6]
Members
Types of members
CONIFA expressly uses the term "members" rather than "countries" or "states". A football association may be eligible to apply for membership of CONIFA if it, or the entity (ethnic and/or linguistic minority, indigenous group, cultural organization, territory) it represents, is not a member of FIFA and satisfies one or more of the following criteria:
- The football association is a member of one of the six continental confederations of FIFA, which are: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of one of the member federations of Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).
- The entity represented by the football association is in possession of an ISO 3166-1 country code.
- The entity represented by the football association is a de facto independent territory. A territory is considered de facto independent if it meets all of the following criteria: (a) a well-defined territory; (b) a permanent population; (c) an autonomous government, and (d) diplomatic recognition by at least one of the member states of the United Nations.
- The entity represented by the football association is included on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.
- The entity represented by the football association is included in the directory of countries and territories of the Travelers' Century Club.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and/or the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN).
- The entity represented by the football association is a minority included in the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, maintained and published by Minority Rights Group International.
- The entity represented by the football association is a linguistic minority, the language of which is included on the list of ISO 639-2 codes.
List of members
Current members
As of December 2024:[7]
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Former members
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Leadership
President
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Per-Anders Blind | Sweden | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Vice-Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Malcolm Blackburn | Isle of Man | 2014 | 2016 |
2 | Kristof Wenczel | Hungary | 2015 | Incumbent |
3 | Dimitri Pagave | Abkhazia | 2016 | Incumbent |
General Secretaries
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sascha Düerkop | Germany | 7 June 2013 | 30 April 2020 |
2 | Jason Heaton | England | 30 April 2020 | 2 August 2021 |
3 | Piotr Podlewski | Poland | 2 August 2021 | 7 August 2022 |
4 | Jeroen Zandberg | Netherlands | 7 August 2022 | Incumbent |
African Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Masoud Attai | Zanzibar | 7 June 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Justin Walley | England | 2017 | 2020 |
3 | Christian Lubasi Luzongo Kalalaluka | Zambia | 2020 | 2022 |
4 | Ngala Maimo Wajiri | Cameroon | 2022 | Incumbent |
Asian Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tariq Abdulrahman | Iraq | 7 June 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Jens Jockel | Germany | 2017 | 2020 |
3 | Motoko Jitsukawa | Japan | 2020 | 2022 |
4 | Ruby-Ann Kagaoan | Philippines | 2022 | Incumbent |
European President
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alberto Rischio | Italy | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Latin American Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jens Jockel | Germany | 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Zam Gutierrez | Mexico | 2017 | 2019 |
3 | Diego Bartolotta | Mexico | 2019 | Incumbent |
Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mark Dieler | Germany | 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Noah Wheelock | Canada | 2017 | 2020 |
3 | Aaron Johnsen | United States | 2020 | Incumbent |
Oceanian Presidents
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles Reklai Mitchell | Palau | 2014 | 2017 |
2 | Ben Schultz | Australia | 2017 | Incumbent |
Directors of Women’s Football
No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
– | Cassie Childers | United States | 6 September 2017 | 2019 |
1 | Kelly Lindsey | United States | February 2019 | 28 February 2020 |
2 | Håkan Kuorak | Sweden | 28 February 2020 | ??? |
3 | Norma Aguilera | Mexico | ??? | Incumbent |
See also
- New Football Federations-Board
- Non-FIFA international football
- World Unity Football Alliance – several CONIFA members also hold membership of WUFA
References
- ^ "CONIFA Constitution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "CONIFA Sanctions Liga de Balompié Mexicano, its First-Ever Professional League". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "Calendar". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ https://www.conifa.org/en/event/conifa-asia-cup-2023/
- ^ "Sápmi Take Historic Win in First Women's Match". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "CONIFA Announces First-Ever Women's World Football Cup". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ "Members". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Biafra De Facto Customary Government to participate in maiden CONIFA African Tournament". standardobservers.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ "Kuskatan joins CONIFA, reminds us of Latin American potential". kickingtheglobe.substack.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
- ^ "Profile". Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ "CONIFA – The Guerrilla Alternative". hamptonthink.org. Archived from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2022-12-24.