The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It organises the football leagues –

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

for men and

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

for women – and the men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

national teams. It is based in

Solna Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

and is a founding member of both

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 ...

and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. SvFF is supported by 24 district organisations.

Background

Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF) (English:Swedish Football Association) was founded in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 18 December 1904 and is the sports federation responsible for the promotion and administration of organised football in Sweden and also represents the country outside Sweden. SvFF is affiliated to the

Swedish Sports Confederation The Swedish Sports Confederation ( sv, Riksidrottsförbundet, RF) is the umbrella organisation of the Swedish sports movement. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. The Confederation was formed on 31 May 1 ...

(RF) and the

Fédération Internationale de Football Association 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 ...

(FIFA) and

Union of European Football Associations Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

(UEFA). Karl-Erik Nilsson has been the President since 2012. In 2009 there were 3,359 clubs affiliated to the Svenska Fotbollförbundet with a total of more than a million members, of whom about 500,000 were active players. Together, they accounted for almost one third of the total Swedish sports movement activities. SvFF administers the Swedish men's respectively women's national football teams, other football teams and leagues including the

and

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

. The motto of Swedish football – "one club in every village, football for all" – is reflected in the democratic constitution of Swedish football. All football competition in the nation is arranged by the SvFF and its 24 district organisations. The clubs are voting members at the annual meetings of the district organisations. The district organisations and the elite clubs are entitled to vote at the F.A.'s general meeting. SvFF was the sole owner of Sweden's national stadium, the

Råsunda Stadium Råsunda Stadium (; also known as Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, Råsundastadion, Råsunda Football Stadium or just Råsunda) was the Swedish national football stadium. It was located in Solna Municipality in Stockholm and named after the district i ...

, from 1999 until it was replaced in 2012 by

Friends Arena Nationalarenan, currently known as Friends Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in ...

, located about 1 kilometer away and also in Solna. SvFF is the lead partner in the consortium that owns the current stadium, and maintains its offices there (as it did at the prior stadium). The Swedish Football Association Football Gala is held annually in November since 2005. It includes the award for the best male player (

Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...

) and female players (

Diamantbollen Diamantbollen, Swedish for the ''Diamond Ball'', an annual award for Sweden's best female football player. The award is currently awarded by the Swedish Football Association and Sydsvenskans newspaper, in conjunction with its male equivalent, ''G ...

). SvFF had a turnover 2008 of 554 MSEK.

Early history

The first Swedish national football championship was played in 1896 but it was 7 years later in 1903 that the Riksidrottsförbundet was formed which was to be the precursor to the Svenska Fotbollförbundet. The new organisation had a football and hockey section (hockey being the term for

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

at that time and not

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

). In 1904 Sweden was one of 7 nations that founded

. It also introduced ice hockey to Sweden in 1920, before the 1922 establishment of the

Swedish Ice Hockey Association The Swedish Ice Hockey Association ( sv, Svenska Ishockeyförbundet (SIF)) in Swedish, is an association of Swedish ice hockey clubs. It was established in Stockholm on 17 November 1922 by representatives from seven clubs. Before then, organized ...

. Before the 1925 establishment of the

Swedish Bandy Association The Swedish Bandy Association ( sv, Svenska Bandyförbundet) is the governing body of bandy in Sweden. It organizes the bandy leagues, Elitserien and Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women, and the men's and women's national teams. It w ...

, the Swedish Football Association also administered organized bandy in Sweden. In 1906, the name Svenska Fotbollförbundet (Swedish Football Association) was officially accepted and the following year SvFF was officially voted into FIFA. On 12 July 1908, Sweden's first international match was played in which Norway were defeated 11–3 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. However the Olympics were a disappointment for Sweden, losing 1–12 to England and 0–2 to the Netherlands.

Competitions

Svenska Fotbollförbundet is responsible for organising the following competitions:

Men's football

''(Tier 1)'' *

''(Tier 2)'' * Division 1 ''(Tier 3)'' – two sections * Division 2 ''(Tier 4)'' – six sections * Division 3 ''(Tier 5)'' – twelve sections * Folksam utvecklingsserie – two sections

Women's football

''(Tier 1)'' *

Elitettan Elitettan ( en, The Elite First) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are ...

''(Tier 2)'' * Division 1 Norrettan ''(Tier 3)'' * Division 1 Söderettan ''(Tier 3)'' * Division 2 ''(Tier 4)'' – nine sections

Junior

* Juniorallsvenskan * Pojkallsvenskan

Cups

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

– Men *

– Women * CANAL+-cupen – Junior Boys *

Cup Kommunal Swedish youth football champions ( sv, Svenska ungdomsmästare i fotboll) is a collection of several different titles in Swedish football that have been awarded to the winners of youth tournaments. For club teams, Swedish junior championships have ...

– Junior Girls

Honours

Men's

;

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

*Runners-up (

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

) *Third place (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

) ;

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

*Winners (

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

) *Third place (

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

) ;

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

* Third place (

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

) ;

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

* Winners (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) * Runners-up (

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

)

Women's

;

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

* Runners-up (

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) * Third place (

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) ;

* Runners-up (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) ;

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

* Winners (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

) * Runners-up (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

) ;

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is a competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belong to the ...

* Winners (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

) * Runners-up (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

) ;

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is a European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first played out ...

* Runners-up (

)

District Football Associations

Swedish football is built on a single pyramid league system. While the SvFF administers the top leagues, the 24 district or regional associations administers youth football and the lower-tier leagues from

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

(men) and Division 3 (women), respectively, and further below. The 24 district organisations are as follows: *

Blekinge Fotbollförbund The Blekinge Fotbollförbund ''(Blekinge Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football (soccer), football in Blekinge County. Background Blekinge Fotbol ...

Bohusläns Fotbollförbund The Bohusläns Fotbollförbund ''(Bohuslän Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Bohuslän. Background Bohuslän ...

Dalarnas Fotbollförbund The Dalarnas Fotbollförbund ''(Dalarna Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Dalarna. Background Dalarnas Fotbol ...

Dalslands Fotbollförbund The Dalslands Fotbollförbund ''(Dalsland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Dalsland. Background Dalslands Fo ...

Gestriklands Fotbollförbund The Gestriklands Fotbollförbund ''(Gestrikland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Gästrikland in Norrland. Background Gestriklands Fotb ...

Göteborgs Fotbollförbund Göteborgs Fotbollförbund ''(Gothenburg Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Gothenburg and surrounding municipalities. Background Götebo ...

Gotlands Fotbollförbund The Gotlands Fotbollförbund ''(Gotland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football on the island of Gotland. Background Gotlands Fotbollförbund, c ...

Hallands Fotbollförbund The Hallands Fotbollförbund ''(Halland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football (soccer), football in the historical province of Halland. Background ...

Hälsinglands Fotbollförbund The Hälsinglands Fotbollförbund ''(Hälsingland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Hälsingland, a historical province in Norrland. Backgro ...

Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund The Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund ''(Jämtland-Härjedalen Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical provinces of Jämtland ...

Medelpads Fotbollförbund The Medelpads Fotbollförbund ''(Medelpad Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Medelpad in Norrland. It was establi ...

Norrbottens Fotbollförbund The Norrbottens Fotbollförbund ''(Norrbotten Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Norrbotten County. Background Norrbottens Fotbollförbun ...

Skånes Fotbollförbund The Skånes Fotbollförbund ''(Scania Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the non-administrative province of Scania. Background Skånes F ...

Smålands Fotbollförbund The Smålands Fotbollförbund ''(Småland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical provinces of Småland and Öland. Background Sm ...

* Södermanlands Fotbollförbund *

Stockholms Fotbollförbund The Stockholms Fotbollförbund ''(Stockholm Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Stockholm County. Background Stockholms Fotbollförbund, c ...

Upplands Fotbollförbund The Upplands Fotbollförbund (Uppland Football Association) is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Uppland. Background Upplands Fotbollför ...

Värmlands Fotbollförbund The Värmlands Fotbollförbund ''(Värmland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Värmland. Background Värmlands ...

Västerbottens Fotbollförbund The Västerbottens Fotbollförbund ''(Västerbotten Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Västerbotten County. Background Västerbottens Fot ...

Västergötlands Fotbollförbund The Västergötlands Fotbollförbund ''(Västergötland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Västergötland. Back ...

Västmanlands Fotbollförbund The Västmanlands Fotbollförbund ''(Västmanland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier and youth football in the eastern half of the historical province of ...

Ångermanlands Fotbollförbund The Ångermanlands Fotbollförbund ''(Ångermanland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historic province of Ångermanland. It was establi ...

Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund The Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund ''(Örebro County Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Örebro County. Background Örebro Läns Fotbollfö ...

Östergötlands Fotbollförbund The Östergötlands Fotbollförbund ''(Östergötland Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in Östergötland County. Background Östergötlands ...

Footnotes

External links

Swedish Football Association
(official website)

at FIFA site

at UEFA site {{Authority control

Association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

Football governing bodies in Sweden 1904 establishments in Sweden Sports organizations established in 1904 Defunct bandy governing bodies Defunct ice hockey governing bodies