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Becoming a Leading Continental Confederation

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Creating a United Europe of Football

Part of the book series: Football Research in an Enlarged Europe ((FREE))

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Abstract

In the late 1950s, FIFA restructured itself along continental lines, allocating positions of power and seats on its executive committee to each of the continental confederations, which now covered Africa and Asia, as well as South America and Europe. UEFA’s rapid development had turned it into a major player in the continentalisation of football and could be a source of inspiration for other continents.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 12–13 June 1954. FIFAA, executive committee (1953–1954).

  2. 2.

    Minutes of the FIFA congress, 21 June 1954. FIFAA, congress (1953–1959).

  3. 3.

    The correspondence between FIFA and the African Football Confederation (1954–1967) contains draft statutes for the confederation. They are undated but are marked as having been received by FIFA’s secretariat on 15 February 1956. The executive committee discussed receiving draft statutes for statutes the Asian confederation at a meeting on 15 March 1957, but correspondence between the two bodies did not begin until the 1960s.

  4. 4.

    CAF secretary general’s report (1956–1958). FIFAA, correspondence with the CAF (1954–1967). For some development about the first development of the CAF see Darby (2002) and Dietschy and Keimo-Kembou (2008).

  5. 5.

    Minutes of the FIFA emergency committee, 13 October 1957. FIFAA, emergency committee (1951–1957).

  6. 6.

    Freely translated from the French. Statutes of the FIFA [1954], art. 31. FIFAA, statutes (1904–1981).

  7. 7.

    Freely translated from the French. Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 14 August 1955. UEFAA, RM00005974 (executive committee, 1954–1959).

  8. 8.

    Freely translated from the French. Minutes of the FIFA emergency committee, 3 December 1957. FIFAA, emergency committee (1951–1957).

  9. 9.

    ‘Tableau récapitulatif des recettes de la FIFA [1946–1954]’, 13 September 1955. FIFAA, financial committee (1955–1962).

  10. 10.

    Freely translated from the French. ‘Constitution and By-Laws of the African Football Confederation’. FIFAA, correspondence with CAF (1954–1967).

  11. 11.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 18 March 1956. UEFAA, RM00005974, executive committee (1954–1959).

  12. 12.

    Minutes of the FIFA emergency committee, 10 May 1956. FIFAA, emergency committee (1951–1957).

  13. 13.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 6–7 June 1956. FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  14. 14.

    Minutes of the UEFA congress, 8 June 1956. UEFAA, RM00000751 (executive committee, 1960–1961). As continental confederations are not recognised as members of FIFA, they cannot submit requests directly to the FIFA congress and are therefore obliged to go through their member associations.

  15. 15.

    Minutes of the FIFA congress, 9–10 June 1956. FIFAA, congress (1953–1959).

  16. 16.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 20–21 June 1957. FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  17. 17.

    Freely translated from the French. Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 28 June 1958. FIFAA, executive committee (1958).

  18. 18.

    Minutes of the European body congress, 22 June 1954. UEFAA, RM00000749 (executive committee, 1954–1959).

  19. 19.

    Commentary on the agenda of the FIFA executive committee, 17 and 18 September. FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  20. 20.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 18 November 1954. FIFAA, executive committee (1953–1954).

  21. 21.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 17 September 1955. FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  22. 22.

    Letter from K. Gassmann to P. Delaunay, 5 January 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  23. 23.

    Letter from P. Delaunay to K. Gassmann, 7 January 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  24. 24.

    Freely translated from the French. FIFA secretary general’s report (1954–1955). FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  25. 25.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 18 March 1956. UEFAA, RM00005984 (UEFA congress, 1954–1959).

  26. 26.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 13 June 1956. UEFAA, RM00005984 (UEFA congress, 1954–1959).

  27. 27.

    Letter from K. Gassmann to P. Delaunay, 6 July 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  28. 28.

    Letter from P. Delaunay to K. Gassmann, 11 July 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  29. 29.

    Freely translated from the French. Letter from K. Gassmann to P. Delaunay, 19 September 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  30. 30.

    Letter from A. Drewry to K. Gassmann, 5 October 1956. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  31. 31.

    Gassmann K., Minutes of the FIFA emergency committee, 15 March 1957. FIFAA, emergency committee (1951–1957).

  32. 32.

    ‘Le tournoi international de juniors 1957’, UEFA Official Bulletin, no 4, April 1957.

  33. 33.

    Freely translated from the French. Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 20–21 June 1957. FIFAA, executive committee (1955–1957).

  34. 34.

    Article 17, alinea 14 of FIFA statutes stated: ‘Paid officials shall not be allowed to serve on the executive committee’. Statutes of the FIFA [1954]. FIFAA, statutes (1904–1981).

  35. 35.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 28 October 1958. UEFAA, RM00000749 (executive committee, 1954–1959).

  36. 36.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 5 March 1959. UEFAA, RM00005984 (UEFA congress, 1954–1959).

  37. 37.

    Letter from E. Thommen to the UEFA executive committee, 27 July 1960. UEFAA, RM0000949 (UEFA-FIFA committee, 1959–1962).

  38. 38.

    Minutes of the FIFA executive committee, 7 July 1960. FIFAA, executive committee (1960).

  39. 39.

    At the present stage of my research, the role of the Pan-American Confederation, which was created in 1948 (Vonnard and Quin 2017, pp. 1430–1431), remains unclear. Apart from organising the Pan-American Championship, in which few teams took part, and publishing an official bulletin, it does not seem to have had much influence.

  40. 40.

    For a recent example on the case of football, see Koller (2017).

  41. 41.

    Organising the tournament proved particularly costly in 1958, some games were held in Luxembourg, as the host association had few resources. Transcript of: ‘4e Assemblée générale de l’UEFA à Stockholm. 10. Règlement du tournoi international juniors’. UEFAA, RM00005987 (1958 ordinary congress and 1959 extraordinary congress).

  42. 42.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 28 February 1957. UEFAA, RM00005974 (executive committee, 1954–1959).

  43. 43.

    Freely translated from the French. Letter from K. Gassmann to P. Delaunay, 24 April 1957. FIFAA, correspondence with UEFA (1955–1958).

  44. 44.

    Minutes of the UEFA executive committee, 26–27 June 1958. UEFAA, RM00005974 (executive committee, 1954–1959).

  45. 45.

    Financial report of the secretary general (1957), 21 January 1958. FIFAA, financial committee (1955–1962).

  46. 46.

    Minutes of the emergency committee, 15 March 1957. FIFAA, emergency committee (1951–1957).

  47. 47.

    At the same time, FIFA was contesting a decision (described by its secretary general as unexpected) by Zurich’s Cantonal Tax Office, which was asking FIFA to pay cantonal and municipal taxes, from which it had been exempt for more than 25 years. Despite long negotiations, the Swiss authorities rejected FIFA’s request.

  48. 48.

    Freely translated from the French. Minutes of the UEFA congress, 4 June 1958. UEFAA, RM00005986 (founding congress, 1954 - ordinary congress, 1955–1957).

  49. 49.

    Minutes of the FIFA congress, 5 June 1958. FIFAA, congress (1958–1961).

  50. 50.

    Freely translated from the French. Letter from J. Ramos de la Freitas to Kurt Gassmann, 28 July 1958. FIFAA, correspondence with CONMEBOL (1941–1961).

  51. 51.

    ‘1960: An I de la Coupe du monde des clubs car l’Amérique du Sud va imiter l’Europe’, L’Équipe, 19 August 1959.

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  1. University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

    Philippe Vonnard

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Correspondence to Philippe Vonnard .

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Vonnard, P. (2020). Becoming a Leading Continental Confederation. In: Creating a United Europe of Football . Football Research in an Enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42343-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42343-8_7

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