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21.05.

1904: Foundation of FIFA

1904: Foundation of FIFA
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons / FIFA headquarters

Story Highlights

  • Historical event
  • 21 May 1904
  • Since 1930 FIFA organizes the World Cup, which became the most watched sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games

The International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, was founded on this day in 1904 in Paris.



Because it was established in France, the French abbreviation of its name is still used (Fédération Internationale de Football Association – FIFA) worldwide.

At the time it was founded, FIFA had only seven members (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland).

For the first President a Frenchman was elected – Robert Guérin, only 28 years old and journalist by profession.

It is interesting that the first member country outside Europe was South Africa, which joined FIFA in 1908. Since 1930 FIFA organizes the World Cup, which became the most watched sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games.




The Hosts of World Championships are determined well in advance. So it is known that the 2018 World Cup should be in Russia and in 2022 in the small Qatar, which caused much controversy and criticism on the account of the current FIFA president, the Swiss Sepp Blatter. To note, the FIFA headquarters is today located in Switzerland, in Zurich.

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