Perspectives on the Governance of Football Across Europe

The number of organisations involved in top football has increased enormously since seven national football associations (FAs) founded Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in 1904. In 2010 the membership comprised 208 national FAs. Particularly, over the last 50–60 years football has increasingly become constituted as a community of organisational actors that establish, maintain, and transform the rules of the game. The Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) was formed in 1954 and European male tournaments were set up from 1955. ¹ Fédération Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels (FIFPro) was founded in 1965 to coordinate the activities of the national players’ associations. The proliferation of organisations in the sport also includes other vocationally based associations, the many fan based clubs, league associations, etc.