The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, International Federation of Association Football, or more commonly known as FIFA, is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer.
The governing body was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. FIFA’s membership associations now comprises out of 211 national associations, including the Scottish FA.
The national associations that are a member must also be members of one of the six regional confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia and Australia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL (South America).
FIFA’s objectives include growing football internationally, ensuring it is accessible to everyone, and advocating integrity and fair play. It is responsible for organizing and promoting football’s major international tournaments, most notably the World Cup and the Women’s World Cup.
FIFA sets the rules of football in cooperation with the International Football Association Board of which FIFA is a member. It applies and enforces football rules across all FIFA competitions.