Confederation of Independent Football Associations

Confederation of Independent Football Associations
Formation	15 August 2013; 12 years ago
Type	Sports governing body
Headquarters	Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden
Membership	42 member associations
Official languages	English is the official language for minutes, correspondence, and announcements. French, German, Italian, and Spanish are additional languages.
President	Per-Anders Blind
Website	CONIFA.org

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.

Competitions

North Macedonia 2020 (cancelled)

Nice 2021 (cancelled)

Székely Land 2021 (cancelled)

Lisbon 2023

Iraq 2024 (cancelled)

London 2025

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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

Current title holders

Competition	Year	Champions	Title	Runners-up	Next edition^[2]
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

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

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

Types of members

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:

The football association is a member of one of the six continental confederations of FIFA, which are: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA.
The entity represented by the football association is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
The entity represented by the football association is a member of one of the member federations of Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).
The entity represented by the football association is in possession of an ISO 3166-1 country code.
The entity represented by the football association is a de facto independent territory. A territory is considered de facto independent if it meets all of the following criteria: (a) a well-defined territory; (b) a permanent population; (c) an autonomous government, and (d) diplomatic recognition by at least one of the member states of the United Nations.
The entity represented by the football association is included on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.
The entity represented by the football association is included in the directory of countries and territories of the Travelers' Century Club.
The entity represented by the football association is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and/or the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN).
The entity represented by the football association is a minority included in the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, maintained and published by Minority Rights Group International.
The entity represented by the football association is a linguistic minority, the language of which is included on the list of ISO 639-2 codes.

List of members

Current members

As of October 2025:^[6]


Africa (4)
Biafra^[7]
Kabylie
Katanga
Yoruba


Asia (9)
East Turkestan
Girl Power Organisation^ (Afghanistan)^[8]
Hmong FF
Kashmir
Kurdistan Region
Pakistan Football Association^^[9]
Panjab
Rojava ^[10]
Tamil Eelam
Tibet

^The Girl Power Organisation and the Pakistan Football Association are breakaway football associations in Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Both of those countries also have state-backed football associations—the Afghanistan Football Federation and the Pakistan Football Federation—which are members of FIFA.


Europe (16)
Abkhazia
Canton Ticino
Chameria
Cornwall
Ellan Vannin
Gozo
Greenland
Kárpátalja
Northern Cyprus
Occitania
Padania
Raetia
Rouet-Provence
Sápmi
South Ossetia
Székely Land
Two Sicilies


North America (5)
National Association of Mexican Football
Cascadia
Kiskeya
Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta
Kuskatan^[11]


Oceania (2)
Hawaiʻi
West Papua


South America (6)
Armenian Argentine community^[12]
Aymara^[13]
Guna people
Mapuche
Maule Sur
São Paulo F.A.D.^^

^^ 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.

Members sanctioned by CONIFA

Kurdistan Region^[15]

Former members


Africa (9)
Barawa
Barotseland
Lesotho
Chagos Islands
Darfur
Matabeleland
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Somaliland
Zanzibar


Asia (6)
Arameans Suryoye
Karen
Lezghian
Rohingya
Ryūkyū
United Koreans in Japan


Europe (21)
Artsakh
County of Nice
Délvidék
Donetsk People's Republic
Elba
Franconia
Felvidék
Heligoland
Lazistan
Luhansk People's Republic
Monaco
Parishes of Jersey
Romani people
Sardinia
Sicily
Skåneland
Transnistria
Western Armenia
Yorkshire


North America (1)
Quebec


Oceania (3)
Kiribati
Mariya
Tuvalu


South America (1)
Rapa Nui

Leadership

President

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

Vice-Presidents

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

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

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

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

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

Latin American Presidents

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

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

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

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

References

^ "CONIFA Constitution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
^ "Calendar". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
^ "Sápmi Take Historic Win in First Women's Match". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
^ "CONIFA Announces First-Ever Women's World Football Cup". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
^ "CONIFA makes history with No Limits Mediterranean Futsal Cup". CONIFA. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
^ "Members". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
^ "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.
^ "Girl Power FA (Afghanistan)". CONIFA.org. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
^ "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
^ "Rojava FA". CONIFA. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
^ "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.
^ "Profile". Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
^ "CONIFA – The Guerrilla Alternative". hamptonthink.org. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
^ "FAD de Estado de São Paulo".
^ "Suspension of Kurdistan FA". CONIFA. 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-04-08.

External links

Official website

[1] "CONIFA Constitution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.

[Calendar-2] "Calendar". www.conifa.org. Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.

[womens-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 8 March 2023.

[7] "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.

[8] "Girl Power FA (Afghanistan)". CONIFA.org. Retrieved 2025-05-30.

[9] "Pakistan Football Association joins CONIFA". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-01.

[10] "Rojava FA". CONIFA. Retrieved 2025-10-07.

[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] "FAD de Estado de São Paulo".

[15] "Suspension of Kurdistan FA". CONIFA. 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-04-08.

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v t e Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) members
Africa	Barawa Chagos Islands Darfur Kabylia Matabeleland Somaliland Western Sahara Zanzibar Yoruba
Americas	Cascadia Quebec Mapuche Rapa Nui
Asia	Arameans Suryoye East Turkestan Iraqi Kurdistan Panjab Rohingya Ryūkyū Tamil Eelam Tibet United Koreans of Japan West Papua
Europe	Abkhazia Artsakh Canton Ticino Chameria County of Nice Ellan Vannin Felvidék Franconia Kárpátalja Kernow Monaco Northern Cyprus women Occitania women Padania Parishes of Jersey Raetia Romani people Sápmi women Sardinia Sicily South Ossetia Székely Land Transnistria Two Sicilies Western Armenia Yorkshire
Oceania	Hawaiʻi Kiribati Mariya Tuvalu