FIFA

Also known as: FIFA

Jurisdiction: International

World football’s governing body; appears across every case file as rule-maker, disciplinary authority, and host/selector for the 2025 Club World Cup.

Timeline appearances

  1. 2001-03-05Origins & GHD eligibilityClassification: Confirmed fact
    Article 19 RSTP chronology: the EU/FIFA/UEFA agreement of 5 March 2001 and FIFA Circular 769 of 24 August 2001
  2. 2001-08-24Origins & GHD eligibilityClassification: Analytical inference
    Applicability of Article 19 RSTP to Messi's own 2000-01 registration — analytical inference that the rule postdated his arrival
  3. 2002-02-15Origins & GHD eligibilityClassification: Not independently verified
    RFEF registration dated 15 February 2002 — unverified; no primary federation document located
  4. 2004-06-29Origins & GHD eligibilityClassification: Disputed interpretation
    The claim that a 2004 youth friendly legally tied Messi to Argentina and blocked Spain — disputed interpretation resting on a false legal premise
  5. 2005-06-10Barcelona formationClassification: Confirmed fact
    2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands: Argentina's record fifth title
  6. 2005-07Barcelona formationClassification: Confirmed fact
    adidas Golden Ball and Golden Boot at the 2005 World Youth Championship
  7. 2005-08-17Barcelona formationClassification: Confirmed fact
    Senior Argentina debut and red card against Hungary, 17 August 2005
  8. 2010-01-01Awards & votingClassification: Analytical inference
    No direct evidence located tying FC Barcelona's commercial relationships to Ballon d'Or / FIFA Ballon d'Or voting outcomes
  9. 2014Origins & GHD eligibilityClassification: Confirmed fact
    The separate 2014 FIFA sanction on FC Barcelona over minors — a distinct matter that did not concern Messi's own registration
  10. 2016-06-27Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    Luis Segura submits resignation as AFA president amid Fútbol Para Todos prosecution
  11. 2016-07-18Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    FIFA and CONMEBOL install a Normalising Committee (Comité de Regularización) over AFA led by Armando Pérez
  12. 2016-08-02Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    Normalising Committee appoints Edgardo Bauza as Argentina head coach
  13. 2016-08-10Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    Bauza meets Messi and Mascherano at FC Barcelona training complex
  14. 2016-11-01Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    FIFA reaffirms support for AFA Normalising Committee and defines its powers
  15. 2017-03-29Retirement & return (2016)Classification: Confirmed fact
    Claudio Tapia elected AFA president, ending the Normalising Committee period
  16. 2021-09-05Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    Full chronology of the abandoned Brazil v Argentina qualifier from FIFA decision to the August 2022 settlement and CAS withdrawal
  17. 2022-11-22Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    Penalty v Saudi Arabia
  18. 2022-12-09Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    The "Battle of Lusail" quarter-final — corrected goal minutes, the penalty, disciplinary incidents and the official card ledger
  19. 2022-12-09Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    Dumfries foul on Acuña / awarded penalty
  20. 2022-12-13Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    Penalty v Croatia
  21. 2022-12-18Tournament officiatingClassification: Confirmed fact
    Penalty v France (final)
  22. 2024-10Club World Cup host berthClassification: Confirmed fact
    FIFA Club World Cup 2025 host-slot regulation — citation corrected to official FIFA document
  23. 2024-10-02Inter Miami & MLSClassification: Confirmed fact
    Inter Miami clinches 2024 Supporters' Shield on October 2 and sets 74-point regular-season record on October 19
  24. 2026-06-04Negreira & refereeingClassification: Disputed interpretation
    Media report describes unnamed analysis alleging Barcelona-favourable anomaly
  25. 2026-06-16World Cup 2026Classification: Confirmed fact
    Argentina's 2026 FIFA World Cup route through the semifinal, with Messi match-by-match output

Claims

Relationships

  • FIFA → CONMEBOL (South American confederation)CONMEBOL

    governance · Documentary

  • FIFA → UEFA (European confederation)UEFA

    governance · Documentary

  • FIFA → Concacaf (North/Central American confederation)Concacaf

    governance · Documentary

  • FIFA installed the AFA Normalising Committee (2016)AFA Comité de Regularización (Normalising Committee)

    governance · Documentary · from 2016-07-18

  • Grondona — FIFA ExCo / Finance CommitteeJulio Humberto Grondona

    governance · Documentary · from 1988

  • Infantino — FIFA presidentGianni Infantino

    employment · Documentary · from 2016-02-26

  • FIFA selected Inter Miami as 2025 Club World Cup host representativeInter Miami CF

    governance · Documentary · from 2024-10-19

Sources

Independent sources:
6
Total references:
8

Secondary reporting

La FIFA designó a Armando Pérez como presidente de la Comisión Normalizadora de la AFA

El Cronista · 2016-07-18

RetrievedLanguage: esIndependent source

Reproduces the FIFA official communiqué of 18 July 2016.

Secondary reporting

Monterrey v Inter Miami — Concacaf Champions Cup quarter-final and its aftermath

ESPN · 2024-04

RetrievedLanguage: enIndependent source

Originating source for the Concacaf fine wording and for the anonymous account of a tunnel confrontation.

Governing-body regulation or decision

FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025™

FIFA · 2023-12-17

RetrievedLanguage: enNot marked independent
The final slot is allocated to a club from the host country, with further details being provided in due course.

Governing-body regulation or decision

Regulations for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ (October 2024)

FIFA · 2024-10-03

RetrievedLanguage: enNot marked independent
Host (club TBC) | 1 | One club (access for the club occupying this slot will be determined by FIFA at a later stage).

Phase 7 recorded this PDF as INACCESSIBLE (ROBOTS_DISALLOWED). Phase 8 Annex B C-04/C-05 supersedes that: the official PDF was retrieved and quoted, and Article 49 records approval by the FIFA Council on 3 October 2024 with immediate effect. The regulations do not name the Supporters' Shield as the host-slot criterion.

Official match report

FIFA.com / FIFA digitalhub — U-20 retrospective records (six-goal Golden Ball and Golden Boot; the 47-second red card)

FIFA

Partially retrievedLanguage: enIndependent source

Supports

  • e4a73dd1-b0be-5650-9ebf-f157819c828d
  • 0d75b0b2-be29-5a9e-b997-5ec2e4452d8a
  • c497366e-0aeb-54c7-920c-5fd01ca9d8af
  • f5a8be8f-03b3-59cf-a93e-461bd0420c25

The same FIFA record carries the debut and dismissal passage: "the 18-year-old entered the fray in place of Lisandro Lopez in the 63rd minute. Just 47 seconds later, he received the ball and spun away from Vilmos Vanczak, who grabbed a handful of shirt... Messi, though, retaliated with a stray elbow which saw him receive his marching orders." Characterised in the Phase 1 ledger as a retrospective feature. No URL survives in the corrections addendum.

Retrieved 2026-07-17

Secondary reporting

Elecciones en AFA: Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia fue elegido como nuevo presidente

La Nación · 2017-03-29

RetrievedLanguage: esIndependent source

Source for the verified 40-3 vote count and the Fox-Turner TV-rights figures.

Established wire or investigative reporting

FIFA designó presidente de la Comisión Normalizadora de la AFA a Armando Pérez

Télam · 2016-07

RetrievedLanguage: esIndependent source

Governing-body regulation or decision

UEFA statement opening and later freezing the Negreira disciplinary procedure (Art. 31(4))

UEFA (Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body) · 2023-03-23

Not foundLanguage: enIndependent source

Supports

  • cfaf9e3f-8422-53fe-b401-6e6118e465c4
  • 4e50a242-5868-5665-a148-b50e662c1cbd

Held in the research record only through reporting (TUDN, Milenio, iusport); the UEFA statement itself was not primary-retrieved.

Retrieved 2026-07-17

Explicit limitations

  • Can the full text of the 2001 RSTP be retrieved?
  • Does any primary RFEF or Federacio Catalana registration document for 15 February 2002 exist?
  • Whether any non-public documentation exists linking commercial partners to voting.
  • Precise internal date each member formally took office (~21 July per Télam "el jueves asumirá").
  • Exact contract figures.
  • Who paid for/accompanied the trip beyond AFA arrangement — not established in retrieved sources (UNKNOWN).
  • Precise day (10 vs 11 Aug) varies slightly by outlet.
  • Exact content of the article-87 statute amendment.
  • No FIFA official media release confirming the CANCELLATION was located this session (the Disciplinary and Appeal releases exist; the cancellation was announced by the federations and reported by AP/ESPN).
  • No CAS case reference number located this session.
  • The disposition of the four players' two-match bans after the settlement is not documented in retrieved sources — no publicly available record was located this session.
  • Minute differs by source (9'/10').
  • Phase 8 Annex B, C-08: two Stage 1 documents contradict each other and Phase 6 on whether an on-field review occurred for this penalty; the conflict is NOT resolved.
  • Phase 6 record note for the TOURN-038 series, recorded here in its safe form: Messi was awarded five penalties in normal/extra time across the tournament (SAU, POL, NED, CRO, FRA), scoring four (Poland saved). Whether five awarded to one player in a single edition is a standalone World Cup record is UNRESOLVED — FIFA counts open-play/ET penalties separately from shoot-out kicks, and the single-edition "five awarded" claim was not resolved against a definitive FIFA record statement. The count of five is verified; the historical superlative is not and must not be stated as settled fact.
  • Whether FIFA formally removed Lahoz for disciplinary reasons — no official FIFA source located; "sent home" traces to COPE/Tiempo de Juego (Spanish radio), relayed by CBS Sports, WION and others.
  • Whether FIFA's Art. 12/16 proceedings v AFA and Art. 12 v KNVB produced any published final fine — no publicly available record of a final decision was located this session.
  • EDITORIAL HOLD: the itemised Lusail card ledger is deliberately NOT reproduced in this record. Phase 8 Annex B, C-01 establishes that three documents claiming FIFA official sourcing produce three incompatible caution lists (differing on Lisandro Martínez, Otamendi, Cody Gakpo and Van Dijk's second yellow, and on six minute values). The conflict is unresolved and is carried as a separate Conflict record, not merged here.
  • Safe formulation on the card record: the match set a World Cup caution record, surpassing the 16 in Portugal v Netherlands (2006 R16); the widely reported "18 yellow cards and one red" is a media/GWR-reported tally, not a FIFA-stated reconciled figure. FIFA published no single reconciled total.
  • Official report does not narrate VAR-check detail; no OFR indicated.
  • Minute differs (32'/34').
  • Phase 8 Annex B, C-06: Phase 6's "32'" has no support in Stage 1's reading of the FIFA shot log, which puts the attempt at 33' (team summary 34'). Both readings are preserved; the conflict is not resolved.
  • Minute differs (21'/22'/23').
  • Phase 8 Annex B, C-07 and §21.4: Phase 6 attributed the 22'/23' figures to Wikipedia, which both the Handoff and Phase 0 bar as evidence. Stage 1 carries the same figures from FIFA's own shot log (22') and team summary (23'), so the attribution is upgraded off Wikipedia onto a primary FIFA source; ESPN's 21' remains an unexplained outlier.
  • Phase 7 recorded the verbatim Art. 11.1/11.4 host-row wording as INACCESSIBLE (PDF blocks automated retrieval) and the "2024-10-03" Council date as unconfirmed. Phase 8 SUPERSEDES both: Annex B C-04 and C-05 record that the official PDF was retrieved, that Article 49 states the regulations "were approved by the FIFA Council on 3 October 2024 and came into force immediately," and that Article 11.4 reads "Host (club TBC) | 1 | One club (access for the club occupying this slot will be determined by FIFA at a later stage)."
  • Phase 8 §23: no retrieved FIFA primary document dated before 2 October 2024 states the berth would go to the Supporters' Shield winner; no published FIFA Council vote, minute or circular naming Inter Miami was retrieved — an evidence gap, not proof that no such internal act existed.
  • MLS's historical secondary-assist methodology not fully verified; ESPN/Opta independently cite 16 assists, so the figure appears to be primary assists.
  • EDITORIAL NOTE: Inter Miami EARNED the Supporters' Shield on the field. FIFA SEPARATELY SELECTED Inter Miami as host representative (see MIA-008 / the Club World Cup host-berth case file). These are two distinct propositions and are not to be merged into a causal claim; commercial motivation is a reasonable inference, not a documented official rationale.
  • Author identity.
  • Peer review.
  • Full data and method.
  • Final v Spain (2026-07-19, MetLife) is unplayed — outcome UNKNOWN. No outcome is predicted.