List of association football clubs

Saturday, January 14, 2012

List of association football clubs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of lists of association football clubs from all over the world. Each of the articles linked from here lists clubs playing at the highest level in each country; for clubs playing at lower divisions, see separate linked articles.

Africa (CAF)

the African football confederation, includes all African countries as members.
The French Overseas Department of Réunion and the autonomous island of Zanzibar have their own football associations which are associate members of CAF (but not members of FIFA). Mayotte, a French Overseas Territory, Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory, and Western Sahara, a disputed territory, are not members of CAF or any other football confederation.

Each of the CAF member countries have their own football league systems. The clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions, and also for places in next season's CAF club competitions, i.e., the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league in many countries are different every season.

Asia (AFC)

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) includes all Asian countries except Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan and Turkey as members, but also includes the Oceanian countries of Australia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands (the association of the Northern Mariana Islands is a provisional associate member of AFC but not a member of FIFA).
The football associations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan and Turkey are members of UEFA, the European football confederation (Israel and Kazakhstan were previously AFC members but had left). Hong Kong and Macau.

The special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, have their own football associations which are members of AFC. The Republic of China (called Chinese Taipei in the international sports community) and Palestine, both members of the IOC but not the UN, also have their own football associations which are members of AFC.
Each of the AFC member countries have their own football league systems.

The clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions, and also for places in next season's AFC club competitions, i.e., the AFC Champions League, the AFC Cup, and the AFC President's Cup. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league are different every season; however, some league systems (such as Australia) do not have promotion and relegation.

Europe (UEFA)

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It consists of 53 member associations, each of which is responsible for governing football in their respective countries.

All widely-recognised sovereign states located entirely within Europe are members, with the exceptions of the United Kingdom, Monaco and Vatican City. Eight states partially or entirely outside of Europe are also members: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Cyprus and Turkey.[1] The United Kingdom is divided into the four separate football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; each association has a separate UEFA membership. The Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of Denmark, also has its own football association which is a member of UEFA.

On the other hand, the football association of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, had its membership application rejected in 2007. UEFA regulations stipulate that all new applicants must have United Nations recognition. Kosovo (recognised by 70 of the United Nation's 193 members) is therefore not currently eligible for membership.

Each UEFA member has its own football league system, except Liechtenstein.[5] Clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions. Clubs also compete in the league and national cup competitions for places in the following season's UEFA club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league are different every season, except in San Marino where there is only one level.

North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)

CONCACAF countries. CONCACAF is the football confederation that overseas the sport in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, including the South American countries of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

All countries and most of the dependent territories in this region have their own football associations which are members of CONCACAF, with the exceptions being Greenland and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon which are not members of CONCACAF or any other football confederation. The French Overseas Departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique, as well as Saint-Martin and Sint Maarten (the French and Dutch parts of the island of Saint Martin), also have their own football associations which are members of CONCACAF (but are not members of FIFA).

Each of the CONCACAF member countries have their own football league systems. The clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions, and also for places in next season's CONCACAF club competition, the CONCACAF Champions League (either directly for teams in the North American and Central American Zones, or through the CFU Club Championship for teams in the Caribbean Zone). Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league are different every season for some countries; however, some league systems (such as United States) do not have promotion and relegation. The North American SuperLiga (North America) is an official tournament approved by the CONCACAF between the US/Canadian and Mexican leagues.

Oceania (OFC)

OFC is the football confederation that overseas the sport in Oceania.

The football associations of Australia and Guam are members of AFC, the Asian football confederation (Australia was previously an OFC member but had left), and the football association of Northern Mariana Islands is a provisional associate member of AFC (previously an OFC associate member but had left).

The football associations of Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Palau and Tuvalu are associate members of OFC (but not members of FIFA). The sovereign states of Marshall Islands and Nauru, and the dependent territories of Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau, and Wallis and Futuna, are not members of OFC or any other football confederation.

Each of the OFC member countries have their own football league systems. The clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions, and also for some countries, places in next season's OFC club competition, i.e., the OFC Champions League. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league in some countries are different every season.

South America (CONMEBOL)

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) is the administrative and controlling body for association football in most of South America.

It consists of 10 member associations, each of which is responsible for governing football in their respective countries.[1] It includes all countries and territories within South America, with the exceptions of Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, which are part of CONCACAF, and the disputed British and Argentine territory of the Falkland Islands, which is not a member of any confederation. Each CONMEBOL member has its own football league system.

Clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champion. Clubs also compete in the league and national cup competitions (if applicable) for places in the following season's CONMEBOL club competitions, the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league are different every season.

Non-FIFA countries

On the 26 members of the Nouvelle Fédération-Board, only 9 have an autonomous football league system: Chagos Islands, Gozo, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kiribati, Somaliland, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Tuvalu and Zanzibar.

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Leonardo declares Beckham bid over

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

David Beckham will not be moving to Paris St Germain, the club's sporting director Leonardo said today.
The former England captain, whose contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy expired at the endof last month, had widely been expected to move to PSG, who recently appointed former Chelseaboss Carlo Ancelotti as their new coach.
But now it seems he is likely to stay in California.
"It's over," said Leonardo. "It's a shame, but the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish notnot to change everything in his life, weighed heavily."
Leonardo also denied Ancelotti, who last week replaced Antoine Kombouare at the helm, has had anything to do with Beckham's apparent change of heart.
"It is not the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti that has changed everything," he was quoted as saying by L'Equipe .
Beckham was thought to be keen on a move back to Europe, with aplace in Great Britain's Olympic team the apparent aim.
He moved to the United States five years ago, twice spending a stint on loan at AC Milan in that time, the first of which saw him play under Ancelotti.
Leonardo was speaking from Dohain Qatar where his team are currently training.
PSG have substantial funds at their disposal after being taken over by Qatari Sports Investments in May
source: http://fifa.com

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