About FIFA

Issa Hayatou was born in Cameroon on 9 August 1946 and enjoyed a successful career as an athlete, having played football in university and having been a member of both his country’s athletics and basketball national teams. A physical education teacher, Hayatou took an important step in his administrative career in football at the age of 28, when he became the General Secretary of the Cameroon Football Federation - an institution he would go on to chair between 1985 and 1988. In 1988 he was elected as CAF President, a title he still holds today, and two years later he joined the FIFA Executive Committee. The Cameroonian has also been a member of the IOC since 2001 and has been serving as a FIFA vice-president since 1992.

With 209 associations affiliated to FIFA today, world football's governing body has been dubbed the "United Nations of Football ". Between 1975 and 2002 alone, more than 60 associations were accepted as members. FIFA supports the associations financially and logistically through various programmes and grants them a number of attractive rights and privileges. But they also have obligations. As representatives of FIFA in their countries, they must respect the statutes, aims and ideals of football's governing body and promote and manage our sport accordingly.

The Home of FIFA is the headquarters of the world’s governing body of football. This exceptional building by Swiss architect Tilla Theus is also symbolically the home of the international football community, of the 209 member associations and the 270 million players, coaches, referees and other participants around the world.

FIFA Marketing constitutes a dynamic and diverse team operating across a multitude of fields.

The role of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) is to discuss and decide upon proposed alterations to the Laws of the Game. FIFA and the UK-based associations (English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs) can propose matters to be discussed and ratified at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which usually takes place in February or March.