There are many different sports that are played throughout the world and there are millions of fans for all of these different sports. There is one sport, however, that is probably played all over the world and that almost everyone has heard of and that is soccer. Soccer, football, futbol, or however you want to call it is literally played in nearly every country in the world. Games like rugby and cricket may also be played in quite a few places, but soccer has by far one of the most players and fans all over the world. That is why FIFA exists. Without FIFA there would be no small amount of chaos when it comes to soccer.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football) or just plain FIFA is the international body that governs the game throughout the entire world. It has its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland and is responsible for the organization of international soccer events all over the world. The most notable of these events is the FIFA World Cup that has been held since 1930 and is one of the biggest sporting events in the world after the Olympics. FIFA has over 230 different member associations making it bigger than the both the International Olympic Committee and even the United Nations! Aside from organizing major soccer events across the world, it also tries to keep the rules of the game standardized and seeks to promote the game in countries where it is not being played.

FIFA also has the task of overseeing the associations that are part of regional or continental areas. There are many but the most prominent are:

• AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
• CAF (Confédération Africaine de Football)
• CONCACAF Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean
• CONMEBOL – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol
• OFC – Oceania Football Confederation
• UEFA – Union Européenne de Football Association

All these groups are part of FIFA and are signatories to their rules and regulations. While FIFA is the main body governing soccer on a worldwide basis, these groups govern soccer on a more local basis. FIFA, in collaboration with these and other organizations and associations, ensure that the game of soccer is enjoyed and that all the rules are adhered to wherever the game is played.

FIFA does not just govern the world of soccer but also has many other responsibilities and tasks that it performs. There are yearly awards ceremonies for the best players, teams, coaches, and other awards. They help to promote the game in poorer countries and seek to bring the game to those countries that do not have the infrastructure to support the game themselves as well. While the governing body that is FIFA sometimes has to deal with people being unhappy with their decisions they are the people who take the responsibility for all the decisions made. Not an easy task when you consider that soccer is one of the sports in the world that is played by the most people.