FIFA - Consider the alternatives

Darfur United under the sun. Photo: Humanity United.

I was going to get onto some match commentaries, but the off-the-ball play around FIFA itself is too interesting at present. With the election of Sepp Blatter for a fifth term as FIFA President, will UEFA President Michel Platini take UEFA's 53 members out of FIFA - as he threatened pre-vote? Unlikely - it would take a quarter of members out of the international body.

But if he did, where could they go. Ummm, perhaps they could join the real alternative to FIFA: ConIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations.  It is a football federation for all associations outside FIFA - a global, non-profit organisation (technically, FIFA is too!) that supports representatives of international football teams from nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples and sports isolated territories. Founded in 2013, and which had its own World Football Cup in June 2014 in Ostersund, Sweden.

"ConIFA aims to build bridges between people, nations, minorities and isolated regions all over the world through friendship, culture and the joy of playing football. ConIFA works for the development of affiliated members and is committed to fair play and the eradication of racism."

Membership ranges from Darfur, South Ossetia, and Quebec to the County of Nice and the principality of Monaco - one of the world's smallest nations.