FIFA LOGO

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

Map of the members of FIFA according to their confederation.
Abbreviation	FIFA
Motto	For the Game. For the World.
Formation	21 May 1904 (107 years ago)
Type	Federation of national associations
Headquarters	Zurich, Switzerland
Coordinates	47°22′53″N 8°34′28″E
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	208 national associations
Official languages	English, French, German, Spanish^[1]
President	Sepp Blatter (4th term)
Vice-President	Prince Ali
Affiliations	International Olympic Committee
Website	www.FIFA.com

FIFA Presidents

FIFA has been served by eight Presidents since its foundation in 1904. From Frenchman Robert Guerin to the current incumbent Joseph S. Blatter via Jules Rimet, the father of the FIFA World Cup™, each President has played his part in the growth and development of the world's favourite game.

Robert Guerin, France - 1904-06 Born 1876, Died 1952 Frenchman Robert Guerin was the dynamic figure behind the founding of FIFA in 1904. A journalist with Le Matin newspaper, Guerin was actively involved in football through his role as secretary of the Football Department of the Union des Societes Françaises de Sports Athletiques. He brought together representatives of the first seven member countries in Paris for the signing of FIFA's foundation act and agreement of the first FIFA statutes. On 22 May 1904, Guerin - then just 28 - was elected president at the inaugural FIFA Congress and remained in his post for two years, during which time another eight associations came on board, including the English Football Association.

Daniel Burley Woolfall, England - 1906-18

Born 1852, Died 1918

An English FA administrator from Blackburn, Daniel Burley Woolfall was elected as President on 4 June 1906. A key aim during his presidency was to achieve uniform football rules on an international level and he played a prominent role in the drafting of FIFA's new constitution. Under Woolfall, the application of the Laws of the Game, established under the English model, became compulsory and a clear definition was made of international matches. Two years after assuming the presidency, he helped organise the first noteworthy international football competition, the 1908 Olympic Games in London. His reign as president brought the arrival of FIFA's first non-European members in South Africa, Argentina, Chile and the United States but was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. Woolfall's presidency ended with his death in August 1918.

Jules Rimet, France- 1921-54

Born 1873, Died 1956
(named Honorary FIFA President on 21 June 1954) When the FIFA World Cup trophy was renamed in honour of Jules Rimet in 1946, it was rightful recognition of the role played by the Frenchman, then celebrating his 25 ^th anniversary as President, in establishing what fast became the sport's foremost competition. Rimet, inspired by the success of the Olympic Football Tournament, was the driving force behind the FIFA World Cup's inception in 1930. His overriding aim was a rapprochement of nations through sport and the First World War only reinforced his determination. He oversaw the first five tournaments before handing 'his' trophy over for the final time to West Germany captain Fritz Walter in June 1954. That same month, the then 80-year-old ended his long reign - during which FIFA membership grew from 20 to 85 countries - and became the federation's first Honorary President.

Rodolphe William Seeldrayers, Belgium - 1954-55 Born 1876, Died 1955 A lawyer from Brussels, Rodolphe William Seeldrayers was an accomplished sportsman in his youth, winning a Belgian championship with Racing Club Brussels - a club he later served as president. As a sports administrator, he helped found the Belgian Football Association and served on the International Olympic Committee. At FIFA he performed the duties of Vice-President for 27 years prior to succeeding Jules Rimet, his great comrade-in-arms. Seeldrayers was President for the 1954 FIFA World Cup and also oversaw the world governing body's 50 ^th anniversary celebrations that same year. He died in office on 7 October 1955.

Arthur Drewry, England - 1955-61 Born 1891, Died 1961 Arthur Drewry served as interim head of FIFA for six months following the death of Rodolphe William Seeldrayers and then became President in his own right in June 1956. Together with Stanley Rous, he had keenly supported Jules Rimet's efforts to bring the British associations back into FIFA in 1946 and he also served as president of the Football League and chairman of the Football Association in England. The near five years that Drewry spent as President - from his election in 1956 to his passing aged 70 on 25 March 1961 - included the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.

Sir Stanley Rous, England - 1961-74 Born 1895, Died 1986 (named Honorary FIFA President on 11 June 1974) Sir Stanley Rous had already made an impressive contribution to football on and off the field before becoming President of FIFA. As a top-class referee, he took charge of the FA Cup final in England and 36 international matches. Then, having becoming secretary of the English FA in 1934, he helped rewrite the Laws of the Game in 1938 while his patient diplomacy helped pave the way for the British nations rejoining FIFA in 1946. Rous was knighted in 1949 for his contribution to the London Olympics the previous year and to sport in general. He became the third English President of FIFA when he took the reins in September 1961 and during his term of office, the FIFA World Cup became a worldwide television spectacle - particularly with the Mexico 1970 finals, which were the first to be broadcast around the globe in colour. Four years earlier he had been witness to England's FIFA World Cup triumph on home soil.

João Havelange, Brazil - 1974-98
Born 1916
(named Honorary FIFA President on 8 June 1998)
Dr João Havelange's 24 years as FIFA President were a period of significant change which featured, most notably, the expansion of the FIFA World Cup from a 16-team tournament to one twice as large by the time the Brazilian left his post in 1998. An Olympic swimmer and water polo player in his younger days, Havelange's greatest achievement as a football administrator was arguably to ensure increased involvement on the world stage for teams from Asia, Africa, CONCACAF and Oceania, who had had just three FIFA World Cup finalists between them in 1974. FIFA's Zurich headquarters housed just 12 staff members when he took office yet that figure would increase almost tenfold as FIFA's organisational responsibilities and commercial interests grew, not least with a wave of new tournaments introduced, notably the world championships at Under-17 and U20 level in the late 1980s and the FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup at the start of the 1990s.

Joseph S. Blatter, Switzerland - 1998-present Born 1936 Joseph S. Blatter had already served FIFA for 23 years when he was elected President of world football's governing body on 8 June 1998. A former keen amateur footballer, he joined FIFA as Director of Technical Programmes in 1975 where he helped lay the foundations for future under-age and women's competitions. He worked closely under his predecessor, Dr João Havelange, serving as General Secretary for nine years from 1981 and subsequently CEO, and playing a key role in organising five FIFA World Cups from Spain 1982 onwards. The Swiss was also the driving force behind FIFA's ongoing partnership with SOS Children's Villages, which started in 1994, and since his election he has extended the federation's humanitarian remit by forming an alliance with UNICEF. Re-elected for a second term as President on 29 May 2002, Mr Blatter has expanded FIFA's competition portfolio, developing the FIFA Club World Cup as well as introducing world championships for Beach Soccer and Futsal. The President was re-elected to serve a fourth term on 1 June 2011.

About the President 1998-present

Joseph S. Blatter

Country of Birth
Switzerland

Date of Birth
10 March 1936

Mother tongue
German

Other Languages
French, English, Spanish, Italian

Place of Residence
Zurich, Switzerland

FIFA Executive Member Since
1998

Occupation
FIFA President
General Secretary 1981-1998, Technical Director 1975-1981

Biography Joseph S. (Sepp) Blatter was born on 10 March 1936 in the Swiss town of Visp, near the famous Matterhorn. He graduated from the Sion and St. Maurice colleges in Switzerland with a school-leaving certificate and then gained a degree as Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics from the Faculty of Law at Lausanne University. Joseph Blatter has one daughter.

Sports activities

Active footballer from 1948 to 1971 (played for the Swiss amateur league in the top division)
Member of the Board of Xamax Neuchâtel FC from 1970 to 1975
Member of the Panathlon Club (society of sports managers)
Since 1956 member of the Swiss Association of Sportswriters
Since 1999 member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

Career Curriculum On 8 June 1998 Joseph S. Blatter (Switzerland) was elected as the successor to Dr. João Havelange (Brazil) as the eighth FIFA President. This victory at the 51st FIFA Ordinary Congress in Paris (France) elevated Joseph S. Blatter, who had already served FIFA in various positions for twenty-three years, onto the highest rang in international football.

Mr. Blatter began his professional career as Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in his native Switzerland and then became General Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (1964). He then pursued journalistic and public relations activities in the fields of sport and private industry. As Director of Sports Timing and Public Relations of Longines S.A., he was involved in the organisation of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, acquiring his first taste of the international sports scene.

In the summer of 1975, as Director of Technical Development Programmes at FIFA, Mr. Blatter began to set President João Havelange's projects into motion. It was the time when ideas for competition and educational programmes were germinating and the foundations being laid for competitions in the under-20 and under-17 categories as well as women's and indoor (futsal) football, all of which are pillars of FIFA's worldwide activity.

In 1981 the Executive Committee of the world governing body designated the multilingual Blatter as the new General Secretary and in 1990 promoted him to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A total of five World Cups were staged under his auspices (Spain in 1982, Mexico in 1986, Italy in 1990, USA in 1994 and France in 1998). At the same time he played a leading role in the negotiations for the television and marketing contracts and the modern commercialisation of the FIFA World Cup up to the year 2006 alongside his predecessor in the presidency, João Havelange.

At the end of March 1998 the direct support and the interest manifested by numerous national associations from all the confederations prompted him to stand at the 1998 FIFA Congress presidential election as their candidate. Joseph S. Blatter was re-elected for a second term on 29 May 2002 in Seoul. On Thursday 31 May, Joseph S. Blatter was confirmed, by acclamation, in the position for a third term of office and he was elected to a fourth term on 1 June 2011.

Philosophy: football for all, all for football Joseph S. Blatter is one of the most versatile and experienced exponents of international sports diplomacy and is totally committed to serving football, FIFA and the youth of the world. The International Olympic Committee acknowledged Mr Blatter's achievements by electing him as a new committee member (the 104th) at the 109th session in Seoul on 20 June.

The FIFA President's many years of service in various domains of world football have given him the know-how and vision which are the prerequisites for steering football into the new millennium and for mastering the array of challenges in modern-day football. By setting up a permanent communications network based on state-of-the-art technology, Blatter aims to integrate not only the principal male protagonists into world football's decision-making process but increasingly also their female counterparts - women players, coaches and referees. He also aims at closer cooperation with the confederations, national associations, leagues and clubs and a more open dialogue with FIFA's economic, political, social and cultural partners.

Football is the quintessential team sport which, for the FIFA President, spells "basic education, character formation and fighting spirit, allied with respect and discipline". Reinforced by the message of fair play, this will all be instrumental in fostering better understanding among all people around the world. "Football is synonymous with theatre and entertainment and is hence an object of unequalled fascination for the media. It can even spark artistic creativity and, of course, creates many jobs. But it is above all an endless source of passion and joy. It is physical movement that simultaneously moves the emotions. It is the most popular and talked-about game in the world". That is why his motto is "FOOTBALL FOR ALL, ALL FOR FOOTBALL."

In the world's less privileged areas football is able to inspire hope and the promise of social advancement. Joseph S. Blatter intends to ensure that football makes a valuable contribution towards improving public health standards by means of relevant technical and scientific research thus proving that it plays an extremely important role in society in a variety of ways.

The immense success of football has made it a magnet for a host of economic interest groups. The FIFA President is nevertheless determined to safeguard the game's human face. Maintaining a sound balance between the manifold facets of football is what he describes as "a constant challenge and at the same time my main objective".

For many years, Joseph S. Blatter has also been committed to a wide range of humanitarian projects, since he believes that football bears a responsibility to society.

Joseph S. Blatter was the driving force behind a partnership with SOS Children's Villages that started in 1994. This organisation maintains more than 130 villages for children all over the world and it benefits from FIFA's financial and material support.

Since he was elected FIFA President in June 1998, Joseph S. Blatter has formed an alliance with the United Nations children's organisation, UNICEF, and he co-launched the campaign "Pure Hope, Pure Football", before embarking on the most recent campaign in collaboration with UNICEF on 20 November last year. "Say Yes for Children", a campaign launched in the run-up to the World Cup, is a worldwide campaign which aims to increase awareness of children's rights. For the first time ever, the World Cup was dedicated to a humanitarian cause under the slogan of "Say Yes for Children".

Furthermore, he supported a joint project for Africa with the UN's health organisation, the WHO, called "Kick polio out of Africa". Blatter also lends aid to refugee camps by providing them with football equipment, and he and FIFA are very much committed to fighting child labour. For that reason FIFA has, under his chairmanship, signed a code of conduct with the ILO, the United Nations International Labour Organisation.

Joseph S. Blatter is also member of the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency, as an IOC representative in this important entity.

FIFA Congress

The FIFA Congress, the most-critical gathering of international football's governing body, used to assemble every two years. But since 1998, this gathering of the global football family has taken place annually in an extraordinary meeting. The introduction of annual meetings allows ‘football’s parliament’ to influence decisions concerning an ever-growing number of issues.

The Congress makes decisions relating to FIFA's governing statutes and the method by which they are implemented and applied. It also approves the annual report, decides on the acceptance of new national associations and holds elections, most notably for the FIFA presidency. In the spirit of true democracy, each national association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength.

TOP 15: WORLD FIFA RANKING

FIFA WORLD CUP

Last Updated 18 Jan 2012

Next Release 15 Feb 2012

Rnk	Team	Pts	+/- Pos
1	Spain	1564	0
2	Netherlands	1365	0
3	Germany	1345	0
4	Uruguay	1309	0
5	England	1173	0
6	Brazil	1143	0
7	Portugal	1100	0
8	Croatia	1091	0
9	Italy	1082	0
10	Argentina	1067	0
11	Denmark	1032	0
12	Chile	973	1
13	Russia	971	-1
14	Greece	964	0
15	France	915	0

FIFA World Cup
The current FIFA World Cup Trophy, awarded to the World Cup champions since 1974
Founded	1930
Region	International (FIFA)
Number of teams	32 (finals) 204 (qualifiers for 2010)
Current champions	Spain (1st title)
Most successful team	Brazil (5 titles)
Website	World Cup
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification