FIFA Statutes

Chapter 9  International competitions 

Art. 55

The organisation of international competitions among teams representing national associations must be approved by the Executive Committee of the Federation.

The organisation of such competitions, the rules of which must be approved by the Federation, may be left to or delegated to the confederations. These rules must contain provisions regarding disciplinary action and the levy due to the Federation in accordance with Art. 52 of these Statutes.

International competitions among club teams and/or teams representing leagues must be approved by the Executive Committee of the Federation, which may leave or delegate its responsibilities to the confederations. The latter shall be responsible for ensuring that such competitions do not conflict with national competitions of affiliated associations.

The authorisation of the Executive Committee of the Federation is necessary for matches between representative teams of confederations (such as selected teams, champion teams) and representative teams or club teams of another confederation. Such matches may not assume the status of a competition or championship without special permission from the Executive Committee of the Federation.

International matches organised between representative teams of national associations must be notified to the secretariat of the Federation, once the date has been fixed.

Art. 56

The venue of the final round of competitions organised by the Federation shall be designated by the Executive Committee so that the contests shall not be staged on the same continent on two successive occasions. Furthermore, the national associations selected must be in a position to guarantee that the competition will be organised in accordance with the sports rules and financial regulations governing it.

The regulations for the FIFA World Cup competitions must provide for a certain amount of the entire gross receipts to be reserved for development purposes. They shall regulate the method of payment and allocation.

Art. 57

Affiliated associations and their clubs shall not be permitted to play matches or entertain other sports contacts with associations which are not affiliated to FIFA or with clubs belonging to them, without the Federation’s consent.

Affiliated national associations and their clubs shall not be permitted to play matches against teams consisting of players who do not belong to a club or league affiliated to a national association.

National associations shall not be allowed to form groups without special permission from the Federation.

Members of the Federation may not play matches on the territory of another national association without the consent of the latter.

Art. 58

Associations, leagues or clubs established within the territory of a national association affiliated to the Federation shall not be permitted to become members of another national association without the approval of the Federation and the national association in whose territory they were founded.

Associations, leagues or clubs established within a territory or country where there is no association affiliated to the Federation shall not be permitted to become members of a national association in another country without the consent of the Federation.

A club domiciled on the territory of any one association shall not be permitted to play in competitions on the territory of another association on a regular basis. Exceptions to this ruling may be made by the Federation only if extraordinary circumstances (e.g. a transborder geographic region) justify such an exception and only if the two associations concerned have given their consent.

Chapter 10  Suspensions and expulsions

Art. 59

Affiliated national associations shall recognise each other’s suspensions and expulsions.

The Federation is bound by this article.

Exceptions shall, however, be made in respect of 

*  the special regulations governing the transfer of players

*  a suspension or expulsion imposed by a national association or a confederation on a member of a committee or sub-committee of FIFA.

Art. 60

A national association which is involved in a dispute with the confederation of which it is a member may appeal at any time to the Federation to intervene.

Regulations Governing the Application of Statutes

Chapter II.  Definition, announcement and registration of matches

Art. 4

International football matches recognised by the Federation shall be those between two national associations affiliated to the Federation and for which each association fields a representative national team.

An international “A” match shall be a match that has been arranged between two national associations affiliated to the Federation and for which both associations field their first national representative team.

The terms used to define a match shall be those recognised as giving an appropriate political and geographical description of the countries or territories in the national associations whose teams are involved in the match and over which countries or territories they have sole control and jurisdiction.

If a national association allows one of its leagues to choose a team which bears the name of its country, the match shall be considered an international match as described in the aforementioned §1.

Art. 5

An interclub match shall be a match played between two clubs. Although the clubs may belong to different national associations, such a match shall not be recognised as an international match (cf. Art. 4 §1).

An interleague match shall be a match played between two leagues. Although the leagues may belong to different national associations, such a match shall not be recognised as an international match (cf. Art. 4 §1), subject to the provision of Art. 4 §4 above.

Art. 6

Every international “A” match (cf. Art. 4 §2) including friendly matches and those played in tournaments or in games comprising football shall be made known to the Federation’s general secretariat by the national associations organising them within 14 days of their being agreed upon. In any case, such notification must reach the Federation at least 48 hours before the planned date of the match.

Failure to give notification of a match within this prescribed period shall incur a fine of SFr. 1,000 to be paid to the Federation. Failure to provide any notification whatsoever shall incur a fine of SFr. 2,000. These fines shall be paid within 10 days of receipt of the Federation’s decision.

Art. 7

The secretary of the national association on whose territory the match is being played shall, within 14 days of each international “A” match, notify the Federation’s general secretariat of the result of the match, the surnames and first names of the referee and assistant referees who officiated and the surnames, first names and status of the players and substitutes of each team, using the official form for this purpose. This form shall be filled in completely and signed.

If the aforementioned form is sent in belatedly, a fine of SFr. 100 shall be paid to the Federation. If the form is not sent in at all, the amount of the fine due shall be SFr. 1,000, payable within 10 days of receipt of the Federation’s decision. In case of repeated dilatoriness the amount of the fine may be increased by the Executive Committee.

Art. 8

Every international “A” match (cf. Art. 4 §2) shall be recorded with its results on an official list kept up to date by the Federation.

Such a match shall, however, not be registered on the official list of international matches involving two affiliated national associations if either of the associations so desires and informs the Federation and the other association to this effect at least 48 hours before the match takes place. The levy due to the Federation for international “A” matches in virtue of Art. 52 §1 of the FIFA Statutes must still be paid in such a case.

Chapter IV.  Tournaments

Art. 10

All tournaments involving more than two local or national teams (clubs or representative teams) which belong to different national associations must be authorised by the confederation on whose territory the tournament is planned.

If any of the teams involved belong to different confederations, the authorisation of FIFA is required.

The request for authorisation shall be submitted by the national association on whose territory the tournament is planned at least two months before the earliest of the proposed dates.

The request for authorisation shall be accompanied by a list of the teams who are planning to take part in the tournament and the tournament regulations drawn up by the organising body.

If a tournament is played on the territory of a national association without prior permission, the national association in question shall be sanctioned in compliance with the disciplinary regulations of the confederation concerned and, if necessary, by FIFA.

Chapter V.  Financial Arrangements

Art. 11

The levy to be paid to the Federation for each match played between two national ‘A’ teams (cf. Art. 52 §1 of the FIFA Statutes), including the matches played in tournaments or in games comprising football (except for junior tournaments) shall amount to 2% (two per cent).

The amount shall be based on the gross receipts (ticket sales, advertising rights, rights for television and radio broadcasts, and film and video rights etc.) derived from matches subject to levies.

The only deductions that may be made from the gross income are state or local taxes actually paid (but not bank charges or differences in exchange rates) and any charges for the hire of the stadium. The total amount deducted shall not exceed 30% of the entire gross income.

National associations affiliated to a recognised confederation are governed by the provisions of §1 of this article subject to the following conditions:

the levy due to the Federation in respect of matches played on the territory of a confederation between national associations belonging to that confederation is only 1%, the remaining 1% being payable directly to the confederation involved;

the 2% levy due in respect of matches played between national associations affiliated to different confederations, on the territory of one of these confederations, is payable to the Federation, which will retrocede ˝% to each of the confederations involved.

Art. 12

For each match subject to a levy a detailed statement of account shall be drawn up by the national association of the country in which the match has been played.

This statement shall contain all the requisite figures reflecting the entire income and any taxes or charges deducted therefrom (cf. Art. 11 §3).

The statement of account and the amount due from the levy shall be sent to the Federation within 60 days of the date the match was held.

Failure to conform with these requirements shall be punished with one of the sanctions provided for under Art. 44 of the FIFA Statutes.

Art. 13

Whatever the financial outcome of the match, the minimum contribution to be paid to FIFA is SFr. 500 (cf. Art. 52 §2 of the FIFA Statutes).

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