Football·International Regulations·FIFA
FIFA Statutes 2006
FIFA Statutes 2006 edition; the base text adopted at Doha (19 October 2003) together with the amendments in force from 1 December 2005, including a standalone article prohibiting discrimination and racism.
| Adoption | Base text: 19 October 2003 — Extraordinary Congress, Doha; amendments in force from 1 December 2005 |
| In force from | Base text from 1 January 2004; amendments from 1 December 2005 |
| Structure | 81 articles of the Statutes + Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes + Standing Orders of the Congress |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the 2007 edition |
What are the FIFA Statutes?
The FIFA Statutes are the federation's foundational instrument: they determine FIFA's legal nature and seat, its objectives, the conditions of membership for national associations and their rights and obligations, the position of the confederations, the structure of its bodies (the Congress, the Council, the General Secretary, the standing committees and the judicial bodies), and the dispute resolution mechanism, including referral to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes and the Standing Orders of the Congress are published within the same document.
About the 2006 editionChanges from the 2004 edition
Under article 81 (Enforcement), the base text of this edition is the same instrument adopted by the Extraordinary Congress in Doha on 19 October 2003, which came into force on 1 January 2004; the text states, however, that its amendments come into force on 1 December 2005. The number of articles in the Statutes rose from 80 to 81.
Principal changes from the previous edition
- Insertion of a standalone article on "Non-discrimination and stance against racism"Article 3 bearing this title was inserted in the general provisions and provided that discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics or any other reason is strictly prohibited.
- Statement of FIFA's objectives in a standalone articleArticle 2, entitled "Objectives", was drafted to encompass the continuous improvement of football and its worldwide promotion in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values — particularly through youth and development programmes.
- Elaboration of the position of the IFAB and of futsalArticle 6 provided that every FIFA member must organise football in accordance with the Laws of the Game issued by the IFAB, and that only the IFAB may lay down or amend the Laws of the Game; it further specified that futsal must be organised in accordance with the Futsal Laws of the Game issued by the FIFA Executive Committee.
Who this document matters to
The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is bound to observe the principles of this document in drafting its own statutes; independence from third-party interference, the holding of free and periodic elections, and the requirement to refer matters to the Court of Arbitration for Sport rather than to national courts derive from it. For sports lawyers, the Statutes are also the basis for establishing the competence of FIFA's bodies and the legitimacy of their decisions.