Founders and confederations celebrate 120 years of FIFA

FIFA's 120th anniversary was celebrated in Paris on Tuesday. - Foto: FIFA

On May 21, 1904, FIFA was founded in Paris. On Tuesday, 120 years later, the seven founding members gathered in the same city at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to celebrate this anniversary with a special ceremony. As one of the founding associations, the KNVB was also represented by Secretary-General Gijs de Jong.

At the beginning of the last century, seven football associations joined forces. At the invitation of the Frenchman Robert Guérin, representatives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Denmark, and Real Madrid (Spain did not yet have a national football association) gathered in Paris. There, on May 21, 1904, they founded the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Guérin became the first president of FIFA, which soon grew into a global football organization and organizer of World Cups. As of 2024, 211 countries worldwide are members.

Giving thanks, commemorating, and celebrating

In his congratulatory message, French President Macron emphasized the important role that FIFA and football have played over the past 120 years. FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the founding members in his speech. "We are here to give thanks, to commemorate, and to celebrate. We must begin by thanking those who were here 120 years ago: Robert Guérin, the first president of FIFA, and a group of dreamers; the visionaries from six countries and the representatives of Real Madrid. They founded FIFA 120 years ago today. So, of course, we must thank them," said Infantino.

"We started 120 years ago with seven members. Now there are 211. The five billion people who watch the FIFA World Cups and dream about football, the players and the fans, make football a unique sport. A sport that has united the world for 120 years."

Proud co-founder

Secretary-General Gijs de Jong of the KNVB: “First of all, I would like to congratulate FIFA on reaching this milestone. As KNVB, we are proud to be a co-founder of this organization. At the same time, we remain committed to ensuring that FIFA will still exist 120 years from now. We do this by being active internationally and looking at how the organization can continue to develop. All with the aim of keeping football accessible for future generations.”

During the ceremony, which was also attended by representatives of UEFA, CAF, OFC, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and AFC, President Infantino and representatives of the seven founding members of FIFA signed a commemorative certificate that was an exact replica of the document drawn up by the founding members in 1904.