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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
Membership42 member associations
Official languages
English is the official language for minutes, correspondence, and announcements. French, German, Italian, and Spanish are additional languages.[1]
President
Sweden Per-Anders Blind
WebsiteCONIFA.org

Competitions

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Further information: List of association football competitions
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Map of CONIFA tournaments

  Men's World Football Cup
  Women's World Football Cup
  Asian Football Cup
  European Football Cup

Men's competitions

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National league sanctioned by CONIFA

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Women's competitions

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Futsal competition

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Former competition

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Current title holders

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See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2025 in association football, and 2025 in sports
For events postponed or cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition[3]
World Championships
CONIFA Men's World Football Cup 2018   Kárpátalja
1st
   Northern Cyprus TBD
CONIFA Women's World Football Cup 2024   Sápmi
2nd
   Tamil Eelam TBD
Men's Continental Championships
CONIFA African Football Cup 2022   Biafra
1st
   Matabeleland TBD
CONIFA Asian Football Cup 2025   Tamil Eelam
2nd
   East Turkestan TBD
CONIFA European Football Cup 2019   South Ossetia
1st
   Western Armenia Summer 2026
CONIFA South American Football Cup 2022   Maule Sur
1st
   Mapuche TBD
Women's Continental Championships
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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

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 September 2025:[7]

^^ 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.

Former members

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Leadership

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President

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President of CONIFA
No. Name Country of origin Took office Left office
1 Per-Anders Blind   Sweden 7 June 2013 Incumbent

Vice-Presidents

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Vice-Presidents of CONIFA
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

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General Secretaries of CONIFA
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

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African Presidents of CONIFA
No. Name Country of origin Took office Left office
1 Masoud Attai   Zanzibar 7 June 2013 2017
2 Justin Walley   England 2017 2020
3 Christian Lubasi Luzongo Kalalaluka   Zambia 2020 2022
4 Ngala Maimo Wajiri   Cameroon 2022 Incumbent

Asian Presidents

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Asian Presidents of CONIFA
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

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European President of CONIFA
No. Name Country of origin Took office Left office
1 Alberto Rischio   Italy 7 June 2013 Incumbent

Latin American Presidents

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Latin American Presidents of CONIFA
No. Name Country of origin Took office Left office
1 Jens Jockel   Germany 2013 2017
2 Zam Gutierrez   Mexico 2017 2019
3 Diego Bartolotta   Mexico 2019 Incumbent

Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents

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Northern America and the Caribbean Presidents of CONIFA
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

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Oceanian Presidents of CONIFA
No. Name Country of origin Took office Left office
1 Charles Reklai Mitchell   Palau 2014 2017
2 Ben Schultz   Australia 2017 Incumbent

Directors of Women’s Football

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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

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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. ^ "Suspension of Kurdistan FA". CONIFA. 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  3. ^ "Calendar". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Sápmi Take Historic Win in First Women's Match". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  5. ^ "CONIFA Announces First-Ever Women's World Football Cup". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  6. ^ "CONIFA makes history with No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup". CONIFA. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  7. ^ "Members". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Girl Power FA (Afghanistan)". CONIFA.org. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  10. ^ "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Profile". Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  13. ^ "CONIFA – The Guerrilla Alternative". hamptonthink.org. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  14. ^ https://www.conifa.org/en/members/fad/
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