Central Asian Football Association

Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is one of five regional bodies that govern association football in Asia. It governs association football, futsal, and beach football in Central Asia. Headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, CAFA consists of six full national association members: Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

CAFA consists of the national football associations of Central Asia, runs competitions between national and club teams, and controls the prize money, regulations, and media rights to those competitions. CAFA aims to develop and strengthen the game of football throughout the region by raising the standards and creating more opportunities for the Member Associations for further growth.

In June 2014, the association was in principle approved by the Asian Football Confederation and approved at the Extraordinary Congress in January 2015 during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. As a result, CAFA will be able to have representative member(s) on the AFC executive committee.

The formation of CAFA was spearheaded by the Iranian Football Federation following disputes with West Asian Football Federation members. It was reported that AFC President Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa gained politically from the creation of the new zone.