Fédération Internationale de Football Association (“FIFA”)
This overview provides an explanation of the bodies that make up FIFA and then identifies FIFA’s objectives and position as the international governing body of football.
Understanding FIFA
Articles 24-53 of the FIFA Statutes explain FIFA’s organisation, which consists of the following bodies:
Congress which is the supreme legislative body;
The Council which is the non-executive strategic and oversight body;
The General Secretariat which is the executive, operational and administrative body;
Standing committees which assist the Council and the General Secretariat in fulfilling their duties;
The independent committees;
The Football Tribunal; and
The independent auditors which perform FIFA’s accounts and financial statements as required by Swiss law.
All but the last of those bodies are explained in turn.
Congress
Articles 25-32 of the FIFA Statutes explain Congress’ composition and responsibilities.
Congress is held once a year, unless an Extraordinary Congress is convened sooner (such as the Congress that occurred in Zurich in 2016), and is attended by each member association (i.e. the 211 member associations that have been admitted into membership of FIFA by Congress) (see article 25 of the FIFA Statutes).
There is an initial notification of when and where Congress is to take place that is sent to members associations four months in advance of Congress and this is followed by a formal notification sent to member associations one month before Congress, which will include an agenda for Congress, as well as the FIFA President’s report, the financial statements, and the auditors’ report (see article 25(2) of the FIFA Statutes).
Congress is responsible for, amongst other things, (see articles 27-30 of the FIFA Statutes) the election or dismissal of candidates for the office of FIFA President and for the chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and members of various committees. Other notable responsibilities of Congress include the approval of FIFA’s budget, the suspension, expulsion or admission of a member association (the full procedure of which is explained in articles 10-17 of the FIFA Statutes), the adoption or amendment of the FIFA Statutes and the designation of the host country for the final competition of the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup (see also article 68 of the FIFA Statutes for more details on the selection of the host country for those competitions).
Where matters at Congress require votes, each member association has one vote. Only those member associations present, i.e. by its delegates, can vote; voting by proxy or by letter is not permitted (see article 26 of the FIFA Statutes). Further, unless otherwise specified by the FIFA Statutes, a simple majority (more than 50%) of the votes is required for a matter to be decided (see article 30.9 of the FIFA Statutes). For example, a proposal to adopt or amend the FIFA Statutes requires a quorum of over 50% of member associations and approval by 75% of those present (see articles 29.3-29.4 of the FIFA Statutes).
The Council
Articles 33-34 of the FIFA Statutes identify the Council’s composition and powers.
The Council meets at least three times a year (see article 9.1 of the FIFA Governance Regulations) and consists of 37 members: one President (currently Gianni Infantino), eight vice-presidents and 28 other members (see article 33.1 of the FIFA Statutes). Each member of the Council undertakes and accepts responsibility to ‘faithfully, loyally and independently act in the best interests of FIFA and the promotion and development of football at global level’ (see article 33.1 of the FIFA Statutes).
The procedure for the election of the President is set out in articles 40-63 of the FIFA Governance Regulations. The President is elected by Congress for a term of four years in the year following the FIFA World Cup and a President may not serve more than three terms of office (whether consecutive or not) (see article 33.2 of the FIFA Statutes). The President, amongst other things, represents FIFA generally and chairs Congress and meetings of the Council (see article 35 of the FIFA Statutes). The current FIFA President is Gianni Infantino who was re-elected in June 2019.
The procedure for the election of the other members of the Council is set out in articles 64-76 of the FIFA Governance Regulations. The other members of the Council are elected by the member associations at their respective confederation congresses for a term of four years and, again, a member of the Council may not serve more than three terms of office (whether consecutive or not) (see article 33.3 of the FIFA Statutes). The ‘respective confederation congresses’ refers to the six confederations, which include CONMEBOL, AFC, UEFA, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC (see article 22 of the FIFA Statutes) and their respective congresses. Each confederation is allocated a number of vice-presidents and members to elect to the Council. For example, UEFA is allocated three vice-presidents and six members (see article 33.4 of the FIFA Statutes) and the President of UEFA automatically takes one of the vice-presidentships on the FIFA Council (see article 19.4 of the UEFA Statutes). Each confederation is responsible for ensuring that they elect at least one female member to the Council (see article 33.5 of the FIFA Statutes). No more than one representative from the same member association may serve on the Council at the same time (see article 33.6 of the FIFA Statutes).
If between two meetings of the Council there is a need for an immediate decision on a matter within the competence of the Council, the FIFA President can convene a meeting of himself and a maximum of seven members of the Council, which is collectively known as the Bureau of the Council (see article 38 of the FIFA Statutes). The FIFA President and the presidents of each of the six confederations are also ex officio members of the Bureau of the Council. Recent examples of decisions made by the Bureau of the Council include lifting a suspension on the Pakistan Football Federation and addressing the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Decisions of the Bureau of the Council are subsequently ratified at the Council’s next meeting (see article 38.3 of the FIFA Statutes).
The Council is integral to the direction and operation of FIFA. At its highest, the Council has the power to ‘[define] FIFA’s mission, strategic direction, policies and values, in particular with regard to the organisation and development of football at worldwide level and all related matters’ (see article 34.1 of the FIFA Statutes). The Council oversees the overall management of FIFA by the General Secretariat (see article 34.3 of the FIFA Statutes and below).
In respect of FIFA’s business and financial matters, the Council is responsible for defining the standards, policies and procedures applicable to (i) the awarding of commercial contracts by FIFA, (ii) FIFA’s football development grants, and (iii) the operational costs of FIFA (see article 34.2 of the FIFA Statutes).
Further, the other powers of the Council include (see articles 34.4-34.13 of the FIFA Statutes and articles 8 and 9 of the FIFA Governance Regulations):
Deciding the place and venue of the final competitions of FIFA tournaments and the number of teams taking part from each confederation (except for the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup final competitions);
The compiling of an international match calendar (see also article 69-70 of the FIFA Statutes);
Appointing the chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and members of the standing committees (see also article 39.4 of the FIFA Statutes) and of the chambers of the Football Tribunal;
Being responsible for the FIFA Governance Regulations and other regulations; and
The appointment or dismissal of the Secretary General.
The General Secretariat
Articles 36-37 of the FIFA Statutes identify the role and function of the General Secretariat.
The General Secretariat works under the direction of the Secretary General (see article 36.1 of the FIFA Statutes), who is the chief executive officer of FIFA that is appointed, and may be dismissed by, the Council (see article 37 of the FIFA Statutes and articles 15 and 16 of the FIFA Governance Regulations). The current Secretary General is Fatma Samoura.
The Council delegates considerable responsibilities to the General Secretariat, which acts under the authority and supervision of the Council and is accountable to it (see articles 34.2 and 36.2 of the FIFA Statutes). The responsibilities delegated by the Council to the General Secretariat include the organisation of all FIFA competitions, execution and management of FIFA’s business and financial matters, management of the operations and day-to-day business of FIFA and the negotiation, execution and performance of all FIFA’s commercial contracts (see articles 34.2 and 36.1 of the FIFA Statutes).
Standing committees
Articles 39-46 of the FIFA Statutes identify FIFA’s standing committees and their functions.
There are seven standing committees all of whom report to the Council and advise and assist the Council, and ergo the General Secretariat, in their respective fields of function (see article 39 of the FIFA Statutes). The Council is responsible for appointing chairpersons and members of the standing committees (see articles 34.5 and 39.4 of the FIFA Statutes). The standing committees are:
The Finance Committee, which determines FIFA’s strategy regarding financial and asset management and advises the Council on these matters, and also prepares FIFA’s budget to be submitted to the Council for approval (see article 40 of the FIFA Statutes and article 28 of the FIFA Governance Regulations);
The Development Committee, which deals with FIFA’s global development programmes, such as the FIFA Forward Programme (see article 41 of the FIFA Statutes and article 29 of the FIFA Governance Regulations);
The Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions, which is responsible for, inter alia, organising all official FIFA competitions, proposing new competitions to the Council, and global strategies against match manipulation (see article 42 of the FIFA Statutes and article 30 of the FIFA Governance Regulations);
The Football Stakeholders Committee, whose membership includes representation from each of the six confederations, and whose duties include advising and assisting the Council on all matters relating to football, particularly the structure of the game and technical matters, and relations between clubs, leagues, associations, confederations and FIFA (see article 43 of the FIFA Statutes and article 31 of the FIFA Governance Regulations);
The Member Associations Committee, which deals with relations between FIFA and its 211 member associations and those associations’ compliance with the FIFA Statutes (see article 44 of the FIFA Statutes and article 32 of the FIFA Governance Regulations);
The Referees Committee, which implements and interprets the Laws of the Game and may propose amendments to the Laws of the Game to the Council, and appoints referees and assistant referees for matches in competitions organised by FIFA (see article 45 of the FIFA Statutes and article 34 of the FIFA Governance Regulations); and
The Medical Committee, whose members hold qualifications in sports medicine and which deals with all medical aspects of football, including anti-doping and providing guidance to players, coaches and referees (see article 46 of the FIFA Statues and article 35 of the FIFA Governance Regulations).
Independent committees
Articles 48-53 of the FIFA Statutes and article 36 to 39 of the FIFA Governance Regulations identify FIFA’s independent committees and their composition and responsibilities. There are four independent committees, which are the Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee and FIFA's three judicial bodies: the Disciplinary Committee, the Ethics Committee and the Appeal Committee. Chairpersons and members of the independent committees are proposed by the Council to Congress for election (see article 34.6 of the FIFA Statutes). Further, FIFA’s independent committees are required to ‘conduct their activities and perform their duties entirely independently but always in the interests of FIFA and in accordance with the Statutes and regulations of FIFA’ (see article 48 of the FIFA Statutes and article 36 of the FIFA Governance Regulations).
The Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee, amongst other things, reports to Congress, advises, assists and oversees the Council in monitoring FIFA’s financial and compliance matters, supervises the General Secretariat, monitors compliance with the FIFA Governance Regulations and carries out eligibility checks and reviews on candidates and incumbent members of the Council, standing committee, the judicial bodies, the Football Tribunal and the Secretary General through a sub-committee known as the Review Committee (see article 49 of the FIFA Statutes and article 37 of the FIFA Governance Regulations).
The Disciplinary Committee is governed by the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which is issued by the Council (see article 51 of the FIFA Statutes) and describes infringements of FIFA’s regulations and the sanctions available for the same. The Disciplinary Committee consists of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and a number of other members (currently 17) who are elected for a term of four years but who may not serve more than three terms as any member of FIFA’s judicial bodies (see articles 50.2 and 50.5-50.6 of the FIFA Statutes, and article 28 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code). The Disciplinary Committee may investigate and prosecute any potential breach of FIFA’s regulations and pronounce sanctions described in the FIFA Statutes and the FIFA Disciplinary Code on member associations, clubs, officials, players, intermediaries and licenced match agents (see articles 51.2 and 55 of the FIFA Statutes and article 6 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code). Between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022 the Disciplinary Committee decided upon 887 cases.
The Ethics Committee is governed by the FIFA Code of Ethics, which is also issued by the Council and applies to conduct (save when dealt with by other regulations) that damages the integrity and reputation of football and sanctions available for the same. The Ethics Committee is made up of two chambers, the Investigatory Chamber and the Adjudicatory Chamber (see article 52 of the FIFA Statutes). Each of the Investigatory Chamber and the Adjudicatory Chamber consist of a chairperson, two deputy chairpersons and a number of other members who are elected for a term of four years but who may not serve more than three terms as any member of FIFA’s judicial bodies (see articles 50.2 and 50.5-50.6 of the FIFA Statutes, and article 31 of the FIFA Code of Ethics). The Ethics Committee may investigate and prosecute any potential breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics and pronounce sanctions described in the FIFA Statutes, the FIFA Code of Ethics and the FIFA Disciplinary Code on officials, players, intermediaries and licenced match agents (see article 52.2 of the FIFA Statutes, article 6 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and articles 6-7 of the FIFA Code of Ethics). Between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022 the Investigatory Chambers opened 140 investigations whereas only one case was transferred to and two decisions handed down by the Adjudicatory Chamber.
The Appeal Committee is governed by the FIFA Disciplinary Code and the FIFA Code of Ethics (see article 53 of the FIFA Statutes) and consists of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and a number of other members (currently 12) who are elected for a term of four years but who may not serve more than three terms as any member of FIFA’s judicial bodies (see articles 50.2 and 50.5-50.6 of the FIFA Statutes and article 28 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code). The Appeal Committee is responsible for hearing appeals against decisions from the Disciplinary Committee and the Ethics Committee that are not declared final (see article 53.2 of the FIFA Statutes).
The Football Tribunal
The Football Tribunal is comprised of three Chambers and is responsible for passing decisions relating to football-related disputes (see article 54 of the FIFA Statutes) and is governed by the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal. The Council is responsible for appointing chairpersons and members of the three Chambers of the Football Tribunal (see article 34.5 of the FIFA Statutes). The General Secretariat is responsible for providing administrative organisation and support to the Football Tribunal (see article 8 of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal).
The three Chambers of the Football Tribunal deal with specific types of football related disputes (see article 2 of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal), and three Chambers are:
The Dispute Resolution Chamber, which has jurisdiction to deal with (i) disputes between clubs and players in relation to the maintenance of contractual stability where there has been an International Transfer Certificate request; (ii) employment related disputes between a club and a player of an international dimension; (iii) disputes relating to training compensation and the solidarity mechanism between clubs affiliated to different associations; and (iv) disputes relating to training compensation and the solidarity mechanism between clubs affiliated to the same association provided that the transfer of a player at the centre of the dispute has, along the way, been involved a transfer between clubs belonging to different associations (see FFIA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“RSTP”), article 23.1).
The Players’ Status Chamber, which has jurisdiction to deal with (i) employment-related disputes between a club and a coach of an international dimension; (ii) employment-related disputes between an association and a coach of an international dimension; and (iii) disputes between clubs affiliated to different associations (RSTP, article 23.2). The Players’ Status Chamber also has jurisdiction to deal with various regulatory applications, including player transfers, registrations, and association eligibility or change (RSTP, articles 19.4 and 19.7; RSTP Annexe 1, articles 1.10-1.11; RSTP, Annexe 1, articles 1bis.9-1bis.10; RSTP, Annexe 3, articles 1.3 and 6.1;
The Agents Chamber aims to deal with disputes involving football agents but is subject to the approval of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations, which have not yet received approval (Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal, article 34.2).
FIFA’s objectives and position as the international governing body of football
Article 2 of the FIFA Statutes identifies FIFA’s objectives as:
‘a) to improve the game of football constantly and to promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth development programmes;
b) to organise its own international competitions;
c) to draw up regulations and provisions governing the game of football and related matters and to ensure their enforcement;
d) to control every type of association football by taking appropriate steps to prevent infringement of the Statutes, regulations or decisions of FIFA or the Laws of the Game;
e) to use its efforts to ensure that the game of football is available to and resourced for all who wish to participate, regardless of gender or age;
f) to promote the development of women’s football and the full participation of women at all levels of football governance; and
g) to promote integrity, ethics and fair play with a view to preventing all methods or practices, such as corruption, doping or match manipulation, which might jeopardise the integrity of matches, competitions, players, officials and member associations or give rise to abuse of association football’.
The foundational aspect of the FIFA Statutes to the laws of world football, which put FIFA at the apex of football’s governing bodies, are noticeable in FIFA’s objectives and also evidenced from the organisation and composition of FIFA. Moreover, several articles of the FIFA Statutes expressly show this:
Article 7 of the FIFA Statutes states that each member association shall play association football in compliance with the Laws of the Game issued by the IFAB and that only the IFAB may lay down and alter the Laws of the Game.
Article 8 of the FIFA Statutes states that all bodies and officials must observe the Statutes, regulations, decisions and Code of Ethics of FIFA in their activities, and that every person and organisation involved in the game of football is obliged to observe the Statutes and regulations of FIFA as well as the principles of fair play.
Article 14 of the FIFA Statutes obliges members associations, amongst other things, to (i) comply fully with the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA bodies at any time, and the decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport passed on appeal on the basis of article 56 of the FIFA Statutes; (ii) cause their own members to comply with the Statutes, regulations, directions and decisions of the FIFA bodies; (iii) ratify statutes that are in accordance with the requirements of the FIFA Statutes; (iv) respect the Laws of the Game; and (v) comply fully with all other duties arising from the FIFA Statutes and other regulations.
Articles 22-23 of the FIFA Statutes obliges confederations, amongst other things, to (i) comply with and enforce compliance with the Statutes, regulations, and decisions of FIFA; (ii) work closely with FIFA in every domain so as to achieve FIFA’s objectives and to organise international competitions; (iii) have statutes that provide for all stakeholders to respect the Laws of the Game and the Statues, regulations and decisions of FIFA, and that recognise the jurisdiction and authority of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Article 58 obliges, amongst other things, confederations, member associations and leagues to recognise the Court of Arbitration for Sport as an independent judicial authority and that their members, affiliated players and officials comply with the decisions passed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Further, member associations are obliged to insert a clause in their statutes or regulations stipulating that it is prohibited to take disputes in the association or disputes affecting leagues, members of the leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials and other association officials to ordinary courts of law, unless otherwise provided by FIFA or other binding legal provision. Accordingly, and generally, member associations are obliged to make provision for use of arbitration instead of ordinary courts of law.
15 July 2022
Thomas Horton