History of FIFA

[2] The first official match between representatives of two nations was conducted between England and Scotland in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, Glasgow,[3] finishing in a 0–0 draw.

Thus the nations of continental Europe decided to go it alone and 'FIFA' was born in Paris, uniting the Football governing bodies of France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland on 21 May 1904.

The first FIFA Congress was held on 23 May 1904 – Maurice Robert Guérin[6] was elected president, Victor E. Schneider of Switzerland and Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschmann of the Netherlands were made vice-presidents, and Louis Muhlinghaus of Belgium was appointed secretary and treasurer with the help of Ludvig Sylow of Denmark.

England, however, joined on 14 April 1905, thanks to great efforts by Baron Edouard de Laveleye who was made the first honorary member of FIFA.

Also during those years it briefly faced the appearance of a new rival international governing body, the UIAFA, which finally did not consolidate and disappeared, prevailing FIFA.

However, the British associations (representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) withdrew in protest against the inclusion of countries from the Central Powers.

Following the previous tournament, all matches were played in one country, meaning some teams made the long trip home after just one qualifying round.

His tenure was also marked with controversy, as he supported the South African apartheid regime, and worked to allow the country to participate in the World Cup, despite having been banned from CAF.

He also brought Israel into the international game (affiliated to UEFA) and saw FIFA spread across the globe, with small nations such as Guam, Lesotho and Montserrat joining.

The rumour spread in Korea that if they send 500 million protest notes to the FIFA administration Switzerland's victory might be cancelled.

[13] In May 2011, after Qatar was selected to host the 2022 World Cup, allegations of bribery on the part of two members of the FIFA Executive Committee were tabled by Lord Triesman of the English FA.

Also, two Sunday Times reporters testified that they had been told that Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast and Issa Hayatou of Cameroon were each paid $1.5 million to support Qatar's bid for the tournament.

In 2016, the Home Nations games clashed again with the United Kingdom's Remembrance Day period, however, this time FIFA told them that they were not allowed to wear the poppy armbands.

Although all four Home Nations had originally agreed to ignore the ban, Wales and Northern Ireland were misled to believe that there would only be a punishment if the opposition team complained about the armband.

On 14 November 2016, FIFA announced that England and Scotland, which had played each other and worn the poppy armbands, would both face penalties, even though no one had made a complaint.

The list of charges brought against the Welsh team controversially included "fans in the stadium wearing a Remembrance poppy on their shirts".