The N.F.-Board (New Football Federations-Board; NFB) is a federation for football associations established on 12 December 2003. The NFB is made up of teams that represent nations, dependencies, unrecognized states, minorities, stateless peoples, regions and micronations not affiliated to FIFA.
One of the founders was Luc Misson, a lawyer who represented Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman in a case that led to the Bosman ruling.
History Foundation The N.F.-Board was founded on 12 December 2003 by the World Football Observatory () in À la Mort Subite, a bar in Brussels, consisting of 5 members: Northern Cyprus, Sápmi, Monaco, Western Sahara, and the Chagos Islands.
When the NFB was founded, a deadline was set for applications: 15 January 2004. However, at some point, it was postponed to May, and the candidate member list ballooned to 76 members.Double dead link. This list included the Falkland Islands, Greenland, Tibet, Guadeloupe, Jersey, Vatican City, Corsica, Brittany, and Catalonia.Double dead link.Double dead link.
Many more members came to apply soon after the founding. The first known four to apply were Greenland, Tibet, and possibly Jersey,Double dead link. and Guernsey.
At first, the N.F.-Board had planned to host their first event, the Viva World Cup, in 2005. However, due to a lack of budget at the time, it was postponed to 2006.
Early controversies ELF Cup In 2006, the first Viva World Cup was initially planned in Northern Cyprus after validation of a reconnaissance visit by the management of the N.F.-Board, political changes took place in the meantime in this territory, with repercussions on the Federation of Northern Cyprus football.From 19 to 25 November 2006 the first FIFA Cup Monde Viva, in northern Cyprus (La Hora (Ecuador)) Northern Cyprus no longer admits to receiving certain football associations, the Emergency Committee of the N.F.-Board takes the decision to cancel the edition planned there and to transfer the competition to Hyères in France.The football field divides the NF-Board into two camps (Sveriges Radio) In response, the Northern Cyprus Football Federation announced the organization of the ELF Cup and promised to pay the travel expenses of the participants, the competition will be won by the Northern Cyprus selection.ELF Cup 2006 (RSSSF)
Departure of Monaco In 2010, the Monaco Football Association left the N.F.-Board. The captain of the selection at the time, Yohan Garino, explains: "For political reasons, we are not authorized by our government to play against certain teams. We also had some problems with the NF-Board which used photos of the Monaco Football Association and Prince Albert as advertising for their many matches without authorization. We were particularly disappointed by this last point which is very detrimental to us".
Breakup of the N.F.-Board During the Kurdistan 2012 Viva World Cup, a large sum of money intended for the event disappeared. The Belgian tax authorities subsequently investigated. Disputes arose among the founders. At the 2013 Annual General Meeting in Munich, Christian Michelis, one of the founders of the N.F.-Board, resigned as president, but as there were still many financial irregularities in his presidency that needed investigation, the NFB did not accept. Michelis denied this, and the association subsequently suspended him. Thus, the organizational structure collapsed, and the association existed only on paper.
Swedish referee Per-Anders Blind, who also officiated at Viva World Cup matches and attended the Annual General Meeting in Munich, was subsequently approached by various member associations to make a new football confederation. Blind, in response, founded the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CIFA; now CONIFA) in August 2013. In 2024, the NFB also made the claim that Michelis had reached out to Per-Anders Blind to approve of the creation of CONIFA, shortly after his resignation.
Due to the N.F.-Board's problem with organising tournaments ever since the fracture, CONIFA has been the new ruler of the Non-FIFA scene ever since.
Cease and Desist On 17 November 2013, a cease and desist was filed against the N.F.-Board by CONIFA, for defamation by Jean Luc-Kit and . However, no followup actions have been taken despite its continuation.
Statuses of Yap and Pohnpei The N.F.-Board lists Yap and Pohnpei as members. However, in 2015, former coach of the Pohnpei soccer team, Paul Watson, revealed that neither of them had actually joined. He further elaborated in 2017, saying: "At the time I was on Pohnpei, the only non-FIFA organisation was the NF-Board. Although they organised some very impressive Viva World Cups for non-FIFA teams, around the time I was in Pohnpei they had become less active and their communications weren’t very convincing. They seemed to want Pohnpei on their list for the sake of listing them, so we never joined. In spite of that, the NF-Board continues to list Pohnpei and Yap, despite the fact nobody on the island has ever spoken to them".
Attempted revival 2014 Viva World Cup Plans for the 2014 Viva World Cup fell through, first with Östersund in Sápmi, of whom had applied in 2010, however left for CONIFA; then with the Isle of Man who did so at an unknown time, however the NFB claimed to continue the application again for a "pseudo European Championship" in 2015; and finally with Tatarstan in 2013–2014, as Andrei Rudakov, the person they were discussing with to make the tournament, had been summoned for embezzlement, and a lack of time to organise a new tournament as the Viva World Cup for that year.
The Viva Cups of 2017 On 6 May 2017, the N.F.-Board announced its return, making the claim that they would be taking over leadership of the Non-FIFA scene once again.Suivez le "Retour du N.F.-Board" / Follow the "Come Back" of the N.F.-Board, 6 May 2017. 2 weeks later, on 21 May, they announced the 2017 Euro Viva Cup, the 2018 Women Viva World Cup, and the possibility of making a second European branch of the N.F.-Board called NFB-EUROPE, all in Vichy. One day later, they updated the countries' positions on the NFB's website, suspending most Associates and graduating the provisional associations to Associate, or suspending them, or even removing them entirely. On 6 December, however, the Vichy authorities had communicated that negotiations with the N.F.-Board had been interrupted for some time, and that no tournament would be held.
2025 Mixed Viva World Cup On 1 February 2024, the N.F.-Board announced the 2025 Mixed Viva World Cup, which would have "both a mix of genres and a mix of rules of the game", and is said to be restricted to non-FIFA UN countries, subdivisions of countries, and transnational/indigenous people. The cup was scheduled to run from June 20–29. However, the event was cancelled due to unknown reasons.
2026 and 2028 Viva World Cups On 18 January 2025, they, once again, announced 2 new Viva World Cups for 2026 and 2028, saying the 2026 Viva World Cup would also be restricted to non-FIFA UN countries, 2028, to the non-FIFA islands and archipelagos. But, they refused to disclose more detail about the two new Viva World Cups beyond that.. .
Viva World Cup
The events that were placed are as follows (stricken-out events are cancelled, italicized ones are planned): 2006 Viva World Cup in Hyères, Occitania (Champion: Sápmi) 2008 Viva World Cup in Gällivare, Sápmi (Champion: Padania) 2009 Viva World Cup in Padania (Varese, Novara, Brescia, and Verona) (Champion: Padania) 2010 Viva World Cup in Gozo (Xewkija, and Sannat) (Champion: Padania) 2012 Viva World Cup in Kurdistan (Erbil, Salahaddin, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok) (Champion: Kurdistan) 2014 Viva World Cup in Kazan, Tatarstan 2017 Viva World Cup in Vichy, France 2026 Viva World Cup in TBD 2028 Viva World Cup in TBD
Women's editions
The N.F.-Board also hosted women's editions of the Viva World Cup. 2008 Women Viva World Cup in Gällivare, Sápmi (Champion: Sápmi) 2010 Women Viva World Cup in Gozo (Champion: Padania) 2011 Women Viva World Cup in Padania 2013 Women Viva World Cup in Tifariti, Western Sahara 2018 Women Viva World Cup in Vichy, France
Other versions of the Viva World Cup There have also been multiple attempts to have different forms of the Viva World Cup, those being: 2017 Euro Viva Cup in Vichy, France 2025 Mixed Viva World Cup in Drôme de Collines, France Both attempts, however, were cancelled.
N.F.-Board former members
+ Europe (24) Selection Association Region Code Cilento ??? Cilento, Italy CIL Găgăuzia Football Federation () Gagauzia, Moldova GGZ Gozo Football Association Gozo, Malta GOZ Labaj Football Federation of Terra Brigasca Labaj () Terra Brigasca(France, Italy) LBJ Padania Football Association () Padania, Italy PAD Provençal Football Federation () Provence, France PRO Saugette Football Federation () Republic of Saugeais SGE Sealand National Football Association Principality of Sealand SEA Seborga Football Federation () Principality of Seborga SBG Rijeka Football Federation of the Free State of Rijeka Free State of Rijeka RIJ Kingdom of the Two Sicilies FA () Two Sicilies, Italy RDS * Walloon Football Federation () Wallonia, Belgium WLN Withdrawn (8) Franconian Football Association () Franconia, Germany FKE Monégasque Football Federation () Principality of Monaco MCO Cyprus Turkish Football Association () Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus TNC Occitan Football Association () Occitania(Spain, France, Italy) OCC FA Raetia Raetia (Rhaetian people) RAE Sámi Football Association () Sámi people (Norway, Sweden, Finland) SAP Scanian Football Federation () Skåneland, Sweden SKA Székely Land Football Association () Székely Land, Romania SZE Historical (4) / Chechnya Chechnya Football Federation Chechnya, Russia CNY Îles d'Or* Football Association of Îles d'Or () Îles d'Hyères, France IOR None NFB-EUROPE Europe 55B Sardinia Football Association () Sardinia, Italy SAR + Selection Association Region Code Associated (2) Easter Island Football Association of Easter Island () Easter Island RPN West Indies West Indies Football Association West Indies WIN Withdrawn (2) Cascadia Association Football Federation Cascadia (region)(USA, Canada) CCD Football Association of Greenland () Greenland GRL + Selection Association Region Code Associated (4) Himalaya Himalaya Football Association The Himalayas(Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan) HIM South Moluccas Maluku Football Association Republic of South Maluku MLQ Tamil Eelam Football Association () Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka LKT West Papua Football Association West Papua Western New Guinea, Indonesia WPA Withdrawn (2) Kurdistan Football Association () Kurdistan Region, Iraq KUR Tibetan National Football Association (Tibetan: ???) Tibetan people (in exile) TIB + Selection Association Region Code Associated (4) Casamance Casamance Football Association () Casamance, Senegal CSM Maasai* Maasai Football Federation Maasai people(Kenya, Tanzania) MAS Peule* https://data.iledefrance.fr/explore/dataset/repertoire-national-des-associations-ile-de-france/table/?q=W952007927 https://assoce.fr/waldec/W952007927/FEDERATION-PEULE-DE-FOOTBALL https://www.net1901.org/association/FEDERATION-PEULE-DE-FOOTBALL,1281046.html https://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pros/58048417 Fula Football Federation () Fula people(West and Central Africa)PEU Southern Cameroons Football Association Ambazonia (Southern Cameroons) CNM Withdrawn (5) Chagos Football Association Chagos Archipelago, Indian OceanIOT Darfur Football Association () Darfur, SudanDAR Somaliland Football Association (, ) Somaliland SMD Sahrawi Football Federation (; ) Western SaharaESH Zanzibar Football Federation Zanzibar, TanzaniaZAN Historical (1)None NFB-AFRICA Africa22A