FIFA is providing financial and logistical support to its 211 Member Associations (MAs) through various programmes. We take a look at the extraordinary work that FIFA's MAs have been doing in recent weeks to promote, strengthen and make football truly global.

An exchange of referees took place between the Football Associations of Gibraltar and Wales in March. Firstly, FIFA-listed referees Seth Galia, Michael Macias and Fausti Guerrero from Gibraltar travelled to Cardiff with GFL referee Tim Reoch to officiate matches in the Cymru South League. In turn, FAW referees came to Gibraltar from 14-16 March 2025 for the 22nd GFL Matchweek. "This is an exciting step forward for football in Gibraltar as we continue to build strong international relationships and support the development of our officials. We look forward to continuing this collaboration to improve the standard of refereeing and share knowledge between our two associations," said Patrick Canepa, Referee Manager at the Gibraltar Football Association.

A five-day training course for referees organised by FIFA was held in Ethiopia in March. The workshop focussed on equipping instructors with the latest concepts of the Laws of the Game in order to improve refereeing standards in their respective countries. Malawi was represented by FIFA/CAF referee instructor Michael Makototo. "The development of referees requires teamwork," he said. "Upon my return, I will share the lessons learnt from this course with assessors, trainers and referees so that we can align ourselves with international refereeing standards. We were also trained on how to develop referees from the grassroots and identify talent in rural areas. This course is crucial for Malawi as it is in line with FAM's vision to transform football."

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) held its Annual General Meeting in Belfast on 1 March. Members considered items arising from the IFAB's recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), in particular progress on FIFA's development of VAR and other ongoing trials, including those aimed at reducing time wasting and improving participant behaviour.

Following the 139th Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, FIFA President Gianni Infantino thanked the Irish Football Association for their "wonderful hospitality". The FIFA President was joined by FIFA Vice-President Vittorio Montagliani, FIFA Council members Kanya Keomany and Hany Abo Rida, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström, FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina, FIFA Head of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger and FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis at the meeting of football's decision-makers, which was also attended by senior representatives of the English, Scottish and Welsh Football Associations.

Referees and assistants from the Latvian first and second divisions took part in a FIFA seminar in March dedicated to the development and expansion of the video assistant referee (VAR) system. The seminar was led by Kyros Vassaras (Greece), together with Markus Nobs and Vadim Direktorenko (head of the Latvian refereeing segment). The seminar included theoretical lessons and analyses of match situations. The referees present also took part in practical VAR simulator sessions dedicated to the development and expansion of VAR.

FIFA's ground-breaking concussion awareness campaign ‘Suspect and Protect’, developed in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), has reached an estimated 835 million people to date, resulted in 482,700 online views and 2070 downloads of the toolkit, and continues to grow.

The campaign was launched in September 2024 and has since been adopted by FIFA Member Associations in all confederations.

FIFA expert Mokata Frans Mogashoa travelled to Uganda for a five-day mission to mentor coach educators Jackson Nyiima and Douglas Bamweyana of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA). In 2024, FUFA selected Nyiima and Bamweyana to participate in the FIFA Coach Educator Development Programme, which consists of four phases: e-learning (self-study without supervisor), online courses (with supervisor), on-site courses and individual on-site mentoring. Branimir Ujevic, Head of Coaching Development at FIFA, explained: "FIFA's goal is to enable every member association to train coach educators from their own country." FUFA Director of Football Development, Ali Mwebe, thanked FIFA for the programme. "We need specialised programmes and technical experts to improve the quality of our technical staff. This programme will help us adapt to our technical master plan and we expect a multiplier effect. Nyiima and Bamweyana will be able to train local coach educators who meet the standards of FUFA's technical masterplan."

After their long-awaited comeback in the UEFA Champions League, Austrian refereeing continues to make progress. The ÖFB's elite referees were delighted to be nominated for three round of 16 matches in the UEFA Conference League and one match in the UEFA Champions League. One of them is steeped in history: the first Austrian in ÖFB history to referee a knockout match in Europe's third most important club competition: FIFA referee Sebastian Gishamer took charge of the match between Djurgårdens IF (Sweden) and Pafos FC (Cyprus) in the UEFA Europa Conference League.