FIFA member associations in focus (October 2024)

The 211 member associations receive financial and logistical support from FIFA through various programs.

We take a look at the extraordinary work FIFA member associations have been doing in recent weeks to promote, strengthen and make football truly global.

It was another busy time for the development of elite referees in various parts of the world. A recruitment campaign started in Northern Ireland with various courses over a period of one month. This move is in line with Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb’s commitment to promote more female match officials worldwide.

The well-known former German referee was recently appointed head of the women’s section of the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision, with Dominican Republic 2024 being her first tournament in this role.

The further development of referees was also an issue in South America: Uruguay (futsal and beach soccer), Paraguay (futsal) and Ecuador (instructors and consultants) received a FIFA delegation to develop referees.

In Namibia, an extensive FIFA elite referee course took place in the capital Windhoek.

Sweden completed the main round of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup™ in front of a record crowd at Estrad Alingsås. With a clear 11:1 (3:0) win, the Swedes beat Belgium and secured group victory.

A total of 23 teams competed against each other in six mini-tournaments at one location. The six group winners qualified for the elite round and will face the top-seeded teams from Portugal and Spain. The elite round will be played in two groups of four from March 18 to 23, 2025, with the top two finishers in each group qualifying for the inaugural FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup™ in the Philippines (November 21 to December 7, 2025).

The sixth phase of the FIFA program “Football for Schools“, which aims to discover talent in the Al-Ahsa region. The program, organized by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) under the supervision of FIFA and in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Education, was attended by 127 male and 85 female male and female male and female students, 32 male and 31 female male teachers, and 10 male and 9 female coaches. The first day of the program consisted of lectures and workshops for teachers explaining the structure of the program. On the second day, practical training sessions were conducted for the students, with the field divided into several training stations. Previous phases of the program took place in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Jazan and Madinah; the seventh phase is planned in Makkah.

The continued growth of women’s football on the field underlines FIFA’s continued investment. FIFA, together with Member Associations (MAs), has worked hard to encourage and increase participation. One of the most important Programs to promote women’s football of FIFA, from which the member associations benefit, is the Women’s football campaign.

From Tahiti to Puerto Rico, from Honduras to Ecuador and from Kenya to Laos, 2024 has highlighted the diversity of culturally diverse associations that have worked hand in hand with FIFA to provide social and inclusive opportunities to like-minded children, football in one to experience pleasant surroundings.

The Uganda Football Association (FUFA) has introduced the Talent ID Framework which focuses on four objectives: Training and Development of Scouts, Reaching all Talent from Anywhere, Connecting to Talent Development. It is part of the integration of the FIFA-Talentförderprogramms (Talent Development Scheme (TDS)), which aims to provide FIFA member associations with long-term and sustainable support in realizing their potential and to give every talent the chance to be discovered and promoted.

Following the successful launch of the FUFA Talend ID Framework, the FUFA Football Development Department conducted the first football scouting course at the FUFA Technical Center in Njeru. The 24 participants in the course were invited by all eight FUFA regional associations. The course was a 16-hour Level 4 Scouting Qualification which included a mix of classroom instruction, on-field practice and video reviews for talent scouting purposes.

Talent development was also a focus in Malawi. The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has unveiled FIFA-appointed TDS coach Thabo Senong from South Africa, who will lead the association’s Luwinga Academy. The former coach of the South African senior national team and the U20 team will be supported by Joseph Malizani, Robert Ng’ambi and Bridget Chirwa.

“Our job now is to work with the academy’s technical staff to nurture and train the talents and introduce them to the competitions we will take part in,” said Senong. “We will prepare the children for the future and to how they can adapt in foreign leagues and prepare them to play at a higher level in the future.”

For the first time in a long time, a FIFA-organized seminar for new technical directors of national associations took place in Latvia. The program included several theoretical and practical lessons. The aim of the seminar is to prepare people who have only been working in responsible positions in their national associations for a relatively short time for the tasks of football officials.

The 75th FIFA Congress will take place in Asunción, Paraguay, as decided by the FIFA Council at its meeting on October 3rd.

The congress will take place for the sixth time in South America on May 15, 2025 in the home country of CONMEBOL. The Paraguayan Football Association (APF) is celebrating its 100th anniversary of membership with FIFA. The association had joined at the 14th Ordinary Congress on May 24, 1925 in Prague, Czech Republic.