Confederation of Independent Football Associations
International body for association football teams not affiliated with FIFA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA, originally styled ConIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA.
 | |
| Formation | 15 August 2013 |
|---|---|
| Type | Sports governing body |
| Headquarters | Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden |
| Membership | 45 member associations |
Official languages | English is the official language for minutes, correspondence, and announcements. French, German, Italian, and Spanish are additional languages.[1] |
President |  Per-Anders Blind |
| Website | CONIFA.org |
Competitions
Men's World Football Cup
Women's World Football Cup
Asian Football Cup
European Football CupMen's competitions
- CONIFA Men's World Football Cup
- CONIFA African Football Cup
- CONIFA Asian Football Cup
- CONIFA European Football Cup
- CONIFA No Limits European Championship
- CONIFA South American Football Cup
Women's competition
Futsal competition
Former (or one-off) competitions
- Givova Trophy
Current title holders
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | |||||
| CONIFA Men's World Football Cup | 2018 |  Kárpátalja |
1st |
 Northern Cyprus |
Summer 2027 |
| CONIFA Women's World Football Cup | 2024 |  Sápmi |
2nd |
 Tamil Eelam |
2026 |
| Men's Continental Championships | |||||
| CONIFA African Football Cup | 2022 |  Biafra |
1st |
 Matabeleland |
2026 11-16 August |
| CONIFA Asian Football Cup | 2025 | Tamil Eelam |
2nd |
 East Turkestan |
TBD |
| CONIFA European Football Cup | 2019 |  South Ossetia |
1st |
 Western Armenia |
2026 1-7 July |
| CONIFA South American Football Cup | 2022 |  Maule Sur |
1st |
 Mapuche |
TBD |
| Women's Continental Championships | |||||
| CONIFA African Women's Football Cup | 2026 11-16 August | ||||
| No Limits Championships | |||||
| CONIFA No Limits European Championship | 2019 |  Monaco |
1st |
 Padania |
TBD |
| CONIFA No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup | 2021 |  County of Nice |
1st |
 Sardinia |
TBD |
Women's football
All members of CONIFA are encouraged to invest in women's football in their communities, and to create female national selections to play and compete against other CONIFA members.
CONIFA's first ever official women's football match took place on 10 November 2018 in Northern Cyprus, with Sápmi ladies beating their Northern Cyprus hosts 4–0 in the Women's Friendship Cup.[3] CONIFA announced their first Women's World Football Cup on 31 January 2021, to be hosted by Székely Land between 23 and 30 June 2021 and involve 6 teams.[4]
Futsal Tournament
The first futsal Tournament was the 2021 CONIFA No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup which was held in Italy and consisted of disabled futsal teams near the Mediterranean Sea.[5]
Members
Types of members
CONIFA expressly uses the term "members" rather than "countries" or "states". A football association may be eligible to apply for membership of CONIFA if it, or the entity (ethnic or linguistic minority, indigenous group, cultural organization, territory) it represents, is not a member of FIFA and satisfies one or more of the following criteria:
- The football association is a member of one of the six continental confederations of FIFA, which are: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of one of the member federations of Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).
- The entity represented by the football association is in possession of an ISO 3166-1 country code.
- The entity represented by the football association is a de facto independent territory. A territory is considered de facto independent if it meets all of the following criteria: (a) a well-defined territory; (b) a permanent population; (c) an autonomous government, and (d) diplomatic recognition by at least one of the member states of the United Nations.
- The entity represented by the football association is included on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.
- The entity represented by the football association is included in the directory of countries and territories of the Travelers' Century Club.
- The entity represented by the football association is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and/or the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN).
- The entity represented by the football association is a minority included in the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, maintained and published by Minority Rights Group International.
- The entity represented by the football association is a linguistic minority, the language of which is included on the list of ISO 639-2 codes.
List of members
Current members
As of March 2026:[6]
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^The Girl Power Organisation and the Pakistan Football Association are breakaway football associations in Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Both of those countries also have state-backed football associations—the Afghanistan Football Federation and the Pakistan Football Federation—which are members of FIFA. |
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^^ The Federação Alternativa de Desporto de Estado de São Paulo (or São Paulo F.A.D.) is an independent regional football association dedicated to celebrating the culture and the people of the state of São Paulo.[14] The state also has an official football association, the Federação Paulista de Futebol, which is affiliated with the Brazilian Football Confederation, which in turn is a member of FIFA.
Members sanctioned by CONIFA
Former members
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Leadership
President
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Per-Anders Blind | Sweden | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Vice-Presidents
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malcolm Blackburn |  Isle of Man | 2014 | 2016 |
| 2 | Kristof Wenczel |  Hungary | 2015 | Incumbent |
| 3 | Dimitri Pagave |  Abkhazia | 2016 | Incumbent |
General Secretaries
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sascha Düerkop |  Germany | 7 June 2013 | 30 April 2020 |
| 2 | Jason Heaton |  England | 30 April 2020 | 2 August 2021 |
| 3 | Piotr Podlewski |  Poland | 2 August 2021 | 7 August 2022 |
| 4 | Jeroen Zandberg |  Netherlands | 7 August 2022 | Incumbent |
African Presidents
Asian Presidents
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tariq Abdulrahman |  Iraq | 7 June 2013 | 2017 |
| 2 | Jens Jockel | Germany | 2017 | 2020 |
| 3 | Motoko Jitsukawa |  Japan | 2020 | 2022 |
| 4 | Ruby-Ann Kagaoan |  Philippines | 2022 | Incumbent |
European President
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Rischio |  Italy | 7 June 2013 | Incumbent |
Latin American Presidents
Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Dieler | Germany | 2013 | 2017 |
| 2 | Noah Wheelock |  Canada | 2017 | 2020 |
| 3 | Aaron Johnsen |  United States | 2020 | 2024 |
| 4 | Shaun Harris | United States | 2024 | 2025 |
| 5 | Jaclyn Guenette | Canada | 2025 | Incumbent |
Oceanian Presidents
Directors of Women’s Football
| No. | Name | Country of origin | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | Cassie Childers | United States | 6 September 2017 | 2019 |
| 1 | Kelly Lindsey | United States | February 2019 | 28 February 2020 |
| 2 | Håkan Kuorak | Sweden | 28 February 2020 | 2022 |
| 3 | Alary Dalton | United States | 2022 | 2024 |
| 4 | Norma Alvares Aguilera |  Mexico | 2024 | Incumbent |
See also
- N.F.-Board, the predecessor of non-FIFA football
- Non-FIFA international football
- World Unity Football Alliance – several CONIFA members also hold membership of WUFA
