Founding of FIFA
Also called: Fédération Internationale de Football Association
Football associations from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland met in Paris to found the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. In 1928 its congress resolved to hold a world tournament open to professionals — the World Cup.
Le Miroir des sports · Public domain · Source
On 21 May 1904 football bodies from seven European countries (Spain was represented by Madrid Football Club) met at the offices of the French sports union on the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris and founded FIFA. The English Football Association, home of the modern game, stayed out at first and joined the following year. Football had become an Olympic sport in the 1900s, but the Olympics admitted only amateurs, so the best players of countries where professionalism was spreading were missing.
The Frenchman Jules Rimet, president from 1921, pushed for a tournament open to professionals and amateurs alike. The Amsterdam congress of 1928 decided to hold a world championship every four years, and the Barcelona congress the next year gave the first one to Uruguay. Rimet remained president for 33 years, until 1954.
