The Sahrawi Football Federation (FSF) ( ar, الاتحاد الصحراوي لكرة القدم, es, Federación Saharaui de Fútbol) is the governing body of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

, a territory that is disputed between

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...

. It was formed in 1989 and it is based in the city of

Laayoune Laâyoune ( , also , ) or El Aaiún ( , ; Hassaniya Arabic: , romanized: ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ, Leɛyun; ar, label= Literary Arabic, العيون, al-ʿUyūn/el-ʿUyūn, lit=The Springs) is the largest city of the disputed territory of W ...

. The board runs the

Sahrawi national football team The Western Sahara national football team ( ar, منتخب الصحراء الغربية لكرة القدم, es, Selección de fútbol del Sahara Occidental) represents Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, SADR), a disputed territ ...

. The Sahrawi Football Federation hosts the Sahrawi Republic Cup.

International affiliation

The Sahrawi Football Federation is not affiliated to the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

(CAF) nor to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

. In December 2003 the Sahrawi Football Federation became provisionally affiliated to the N.F.-Board. The N.F.-Board (officially known as the New Football Federations-Board) was formed in December 2003 and acted as a federation of association football national federations, who were not recognised by FIFA. The board also organised the

Viva World Cup The VIVA World Cup was an international association football tournament organized by the New Federation Board, an umbrella association for teams unaffiliated with FIFA, held five times between 2006 and 2012. It is succeeded by the newly organiz ...

, a competition Western Sahara entered once. On 25 March 2012, the then

Minister for Youth and Sports, Mohamed Moulud Mohamed Fade, announced the creation of the

, by decision of the own team players, stating that, "The reason behind its absence of the African football competitions is due to its non-membership in the Confederation of African Football." The national team participated in the

2012 Viva World Cup The 2012 VIVA World Cup was the fifth and final VIVA World Cup, an international tournament for football open to non-FIFA-affiliated teams, played in the Iraqi Kurdistan. It marked a new record in the competition's history, with nine teams compe ...

. Due to pressure from

, the hosts of the tournament,

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

didn't display the Sahrawi flag for the competition. The N.F. Board disbanded In January 2013 and it was replaced by the

Confederation of Independent Football Associations The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA. Competitions Women's football All members of CONIFA are encouraged to in ...

(ConIFA). Western Sahara joined ConIFA, but the national team hasn't participated in any of the ConIFA World Football Cups organised by the organisation.

References

{{International football National football team Sports organizations established in 1989 1989 establishments in Western Sahara