The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA.
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Formation | 15 August 2013 |
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Type | Federation of associations |
Headquarters | Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden |
Membership | 41 Members |
Official languages | English is the official language for minutes, correspondence and announcements. French, German, Spanish and Italian are additional languages[1] |
President | Per-Anders Blind |
Website | conifa.org |
Competitions
editWomen's football
editAll 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.[2] 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.[3]
Men'sedit
Women'sedit
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Futsaledit
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National leagues sanctioned by CONIFAedit |
Current title holders
editCompetition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition[5] | ||
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World Championship | |||||||
World Football Cup | 2018 (final) | Kárpátalja | 1st
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Northern Cyprus | 2025 June | ||
Women's World Football Cup | 2024 (final) | Sápmi | 2nd
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Tamil Eelam | TBD | ||
Continental Championship | |||||||
European Football Cup | 2019 (final) | South Ossetia | 1st
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Western Armenia | TBD | ||
Africa Football Cup | 2022 | Biafra | 1st
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Matabeleland | TBD | ||
South America Football Cup | 2022 | Maule Sur | 1st
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Mapuche | TBD | ||
North America Football Cup | TBD | ||||||
Asia Football Cup | 2023 | Tamil Eelam | 1st
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Hmong FF | TBD | ||
Futsal Championship | |||||||
CONIFA No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup | 2021 (final) | County of Nice | Unknown
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Sardinia | TBD |
Members
editTypes of members
editCONIFA 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
editCurrent
editAs of August 2024[6]
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Former
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Leadership
editPresidency
editNo. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Per-Anders Blind | Sweden | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Vice-Presidents of ConIFA
editNo. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Malcolm Blackburn | Isle of Man | 2014 | 2016 |
2 | Kristof Wenczel | Hungary | 2015 | Incumbent |
3 | Dimitri Pagave | Abkhazia | 2016 | Incumbent |
General Secretaries
editNo. | 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 |
Africa President
editNo. | 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 President
editNo. | 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
editNo. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Alberto Rischio | Italy | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Latin America President
editNo. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Jens Jockel | Germany | 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Zam Gutierrez | Mexico | 2017 | 2019 |
3 | Diego Bartolotta | Mexico | 2019 | Incumbent |
North American and Caribbean President
editNo. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Mark Dieler | Germany | 2013 | 2017 |
2 | Noah Wheelock | Canada | 2017 | 2020 |
3 | Aaron Johnsen | United States | 2020 | Incumbent |
Oceanian President
editNo. | 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
editNo. | 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
edit- Non-FIFA international football
- New Football Federations-Board
- World Unity Football Alliance – Several CONIFA members also hold membership of the WUFA.
- CONIFA World Football Cup
- CONIFA European Football Cup
References
edit- ^ "CONIFA Constitution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "Sapmi 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Members". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.