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February 17

FIFA

Why does FIFA not have an official English-language full name? Many other organizations with names and abbreviations originally from French, such as UEFA, FIBA, as well as SI system, have official English-language full names, so why does FIFA not have too? And if football was invented in England, why was FIFA not founded there too? Why so few international sports organizations were founded in the UK, despite having many sports founded there? --40bus (talk) 21:49, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Because they don't have to. Nanonic (talk) 08:07, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

None of the founding members of FIFA were from Anglophone countries. Founding it in a non-member country would have been a strange choice. Also today, the vast majority of its members is not Anglophone. FIFA is internationally known by its acronym. It is not obvious that people would understand that "the International Federation of Association Football" is the same as FIFA. ‑‑Lambiam 08:53, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The English/British indeed invented many sports, but we generally pursued them for fun, on an amateur basis. The impulse to make them controlled and professional on an international scale often arose elsewhere. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.8.123.129 (talk) 14:08, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

UIAA (Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme) is also known by it's French initials. Although the Wikipedia article uses an English translation, International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, I've never heard it called that. Alansplodge (talk) 23:18, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

CERN and FIDE come to mind as other international organizations known by their French language abbreviations. John M Baker (talk) 04:01, 20 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May I add that English is the language of the true inventor of Football? And yet, England willingly declined to form the governing body themselves, despite that being their God-given right. Pablothepenguin (talk) 00:29, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]