Recent from talks
CONIFA World Football Cup
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
CONIFA World Football Cup
The CONIFA World Football Cup is an international football tournament organized by CONIFA, an umbrella association for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA, which has been held every two years since 2014. This tournament is the successor of the Viva World Cup which was held from 2006 to 2012.
CONIFA is an organisation that provides an outlet for countries, sub-national entities, stateless peoples and ethnic minorities to play international football. Because a number of their members represent diasporas or displaced peoples, it is not always possible for the host of the World Football Cup to be able to hold the competition in their own "territory". As a consequence of this, CONIFA defines the "host" of the World Football Cup as being the member association that heads the organising committee, whether or not the tournament is actually played in the geographical area that the host association represents.
In May 2013, CONIFA announced that Sápmi had been chosen to host the inaugural CONIFA World Football Cup in Östersund, Sweden. It was an invitational tournament played between 1 and 8 June 2014, with all matches being held in the 5092-capacity Jämtkraft Arena.
Twelve teams took part in the tournament. Catalonia and Rapa Nui were thought to be potential participants, but ultimately declined or withdrew.
In parallel with the tournament, a festival celebrating the cultural diversity of the teams involved was held in Östersund.
Of the twelve invited teams, eight had previously participated at the Viva World Cup.
The draw initially included Quebec and Zanzibar. However, in May 2014, it was announced that both Quebec and Zanzibar had withdrawn from the tournament. The Quebec team had affiliated with the Fédération de soccer du Québec, with the intention that the FSQ eventually apply for membership of CONCACAF. To this end, the team will only play internationals against full national teams that are members of either CONCACAF or FIFA, and will no longer participate in Non-FIFA Football. The Zanzibar team were unable to obtain visas to enter Sweden and were thus forced to pull out of the tournament. Quebec's place was taken by South Ossetia, while Zanzibar were replaced by County of Nice.
The 2016 tournament was the first to feature a measure of qualification, rather than all of the teams being invited. In April 2015, CONIFA, during its announcement of the final make up of the 2015 European Football Cup, that the top three teams in that competition would gain automatic entry into the 2016 WFC. Also in April, the Ellan Vannin team announced it would play two charity matches against Alderney, which would also serve as warm up games for the Island Games tournament in which both Alderney and the Isle of Man were competing. Subsequently, in May 2015, two weeks before the scheduled dates of the two games, CONIFA and the MIFA announced that it had been expanded to four teams, with both Panjab and Felvidék also taking part; CONIFA also announced that the winner of the expanded Niamh Challenge Cup would gain automatic entry into the 2016 World Football Cup. A further four team tournament, the Benedikt Fontana Cup, was announced to be hosted by the Raetia FA to run during the European Football Cup. This would also feature Felvidék, as well as the hosts and Chagos Islands, and would also serve as a qualification tournament for the World Football Cup.
Hub AI
CONIFA World Football Cup AI simulator
(@CONIFA World Football Cup_simulator)
CONIFA World Football Cup
The CONIFA World Football Cup is an international football tournament organized by CONIFA, an umbrella association for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA, which has been held every two years since 2014. This tournament is the successor of the Viva World Cup which was held from 2006 to 2012.
CONIFA is an organisation that provides an outlet for countries, sub-national entities, stateless peoples and ethnic minorities to play international football. Because a number of their members represent diasporas or displaced peoples, it is not always possible for the host of the World Football Cup to be able to hold the competition in their own "territory". As a consequence of this, CONIFA defines the "host" of the World Football Cup as being the member association that heads the organising committee, whether or not the tournament is actually played in the geographical area that the host association represents.
In May 2013, CONIFA announced that Sápmi had been chosen to host the inaugural CONIFA World Football Cup in Östersund, Sweden. It was an invitational tournament played between 1 and 8 June 2014, with all matches being held in the 5092-capacity Jämtkraft Arena.
Twelve teams took part in the tournament. Catalonia and Rapa Nui were thought to be potential participants, but ultimately declined or withdrew.
In parallel with the tournament, a festival celebrating the cultural diversity of the teams involved was held in Östersund.
Of the twelve invited teams, eight had previously participated at the Viva World Cup.
The draw initially included Quebec and Zanzibar. However, in May 2014, it was announced that both Quebec and Zanzibar had withdrawn from the tournament. The Quebec team had affiliated with the Fédération de soccer du Québec, with the intention that the FSQ eventually apply for membership of CONCACAF. To this end, the team will only play internationals against full national teams that are members of either CONCACAF or FIFA, and will no longer participate in Non-FIFA Football. The Zanzibar team were unable to obtain visas to enter Sweden and were thus forced to pull out of the tournament. Quebec's place was taken by South Ossetia, while Zanzibar were replaced by County of Nice.
The 2016 tournament was the first to feature a measure of qualification, rather than all of the teams being invited. In April 2015, CONIFA, during its announcement of the final make up of the 2015 European Football Cup, that the top three teams in that competition would gain automatic entry into the 2016 WFC. Also in April, the Ellan Vannin team announced it would play two charity matches against Alderney, which would also serve as warm up games for the Island Games tournament in which both Alderney and the Isle of Man were competing. Subsequently, in May 2015, two weeks before the scheduled dates of the two games, CONIFA and the MIFA announced that it had been expanded to four teams, with both Panjab and Felvidék also taking part; CONIFA also announced that the winner of the expanded Niamh Challenge Cup would gain automatic entry into the 2016 World Football Cup. A further four team tournament, the Benedikt Fontana Cup, was announced to be hosted by the Raetia FA to run during the European Football Cup. This would also feature Felvidék, as well as the hosts and Chagos Islands, and would also serve as a qualification tournament for the World Football Cup.