Although the African CONIFA elections were delayed by about four months, it is the first time the African continent has been able to formally organize its continental government to spearhead the organization of football among African peoples who are yet to gain FIFA affiliation or have no desire to join FIFA altogether.

CONIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations, is the football federation for all associations outside FIFA, with members from all the continents of the world.

Among its North American members is the French-speaking Canadian region of Québec and Cascadia representing the Cascadia region of the USA and Canada.

In Europe, CONIFA has members such as Monaco, Western Armenia and Northern Cyprus, among many others, while some of the members from Asia are Tibet, Kurdistan and Western Papua to name but a few.

Hawaii and some Australian First Nations form part of the CONIFA membership from Oceania while Mapuche and Rapa Nui are among those drawn from South America.

The African region consists of, Barawa, Barotseland, Chagos Islands, Darfur, Kabylia, Matabeleland, Somaliland, Western Sahara and Zanzibar, among others.

CONIFA was founded on 7th June 2013, and organized its first World Football Cup in June 2014 in Ostersund, Sweden, in order to support representatives of international football teams from nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples and sports isolated territories share in the joy of playing international football.

More news on CONIFA can be found on their official website CONIFA.ORG

Congratulations Barotseland and congratulations Africa!