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Confederation of Independent Football Associations

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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.

Confederation of Independent Football Associations
Formation15 August 2013; 12 years ago (15 August 2013)
TypeSports governing body
HeadquartersLuleå, Norrbotten, Sweden
Members38 member associations
Official languages
English is the official language for minutes, correspondence, and announcements. French, German,Swedish Italian, and Spanish are additional languages.[1]
President
Sweden Per-Anders Blind
WebsiteCONIFA.org

Competitions

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Men's competitions

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Women's competition

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Futsal competition

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Former (or one-off) competitions

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Current title holders

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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 2-6 June
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

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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

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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

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Types of members

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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:

List of members

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Current members

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As of April 2026:[6]

^^ 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.[10] 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

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Former members

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Leadership

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President

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President of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Per-Anders Blind Sweden7 June 2013Incumbent

Vice-Presidents

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Vice-Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Malcolm Blackburn Isle of Man20142016
2Kristof Wenczel Hungary2015Incumbent
3Dimitri Pagave Abkhazia2016Incumbent

General Secretaries

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General Secretaries of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Sascha Düerkop Germany7 June 201330 April 2020
2Jason HeatonEngland England30 April 20202 August 2021
3Piotr PodlewskiPoland Poland2 August 20217 August 2022
4Jeroen ZandbergNetherlands Netherlands7 August 2022Incumbent

African Presidents

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African Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Masoud Attai Zanzibar7 June 20132017
2Justin Walley England20172020
3Christian Lubasi Luzongo Kalalaluka Zambia20202022
4Ngala Maimo Wajiri Cameroon2022Incumbent

Asian Presidents

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Asian Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Tariq Abdulrahman Iraq7 June 20132017
2Jens Jockel Germany20172020
3Motoko Jitsukawa Japan20202022
4Ruby-Ann Kagaoan Philippines2022Incumbent

European President

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European President of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Alberto Rischio Italy7 June 2013Incumbent

Latin American Presidents

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Latin American Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Jens Jockel Germany20132017
2Zam Gutierrez Mexico20172019
3Diego Bartolotta Mexico2019Incumbent

Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents

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Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Mark Dieler Germany20132017
2Noah Wheelock Canada20172020
3Aaron Johnsen United States20202024
4Shaun Harris United States20242025
5Jaclyn Guenette Canada2025Incumbent

Oceanian Presidents

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Oceanian Presidents of CONIFA
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
1Charles Reklai Mitchell Palau20142017
2Ben Schultz Australia2017Incumbent

Directors of Women’s Football

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Directors of Women's Football
No.NameCountry of originTook officeLeft office
–Cassie Childers United States6 September 20172019
1Kelly Lindsey United StatesFebruary 201928 February 2020
2Håkan Kuorak Sweden28 February 20202022
3Alary Dalton United States20222024
4Norma Alvares Aguilera Mexico2024Incumbent

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "CONIFA Constitution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  2. ↑ "Calendar". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Sápmi Take Historic Win in First Women's Match". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  4. ↑ "CONIFA Announces First-Ever Women's World Football Cup". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  5. ↑ "CONIFA makes history with No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup". CONIFA. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  6. ↑ "Members". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Girl Power FA (Afghanistan)". CONIFA.org. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Rojava FA". CONIFA. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  9. ↑ "CONIFA – The Guerrilla Alternative". hamptonthink.org. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  10. ↑ "FAD de Estado de São Paulo".
  11. ↑ "Suspension of Kurdistan FA". CONIFA. 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  12. ↑ "Biafra De Facto Customary Government to participate in maiden CONIFA African Tournament". standardobservers.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  13. ↑ "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  14. ↑ "Kuskatan joins CONIFA, reminds us of Latin American potential". kickingtheglobe.substack.com. 10 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  15. ↑ "Profile". Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
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