World soccer at it’s topmost level is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, more commonly known as FIFA, who then pass powers for local governance and organisation to each of the six regional soccer confederations which are organised on a largely continental basis. FIFA also organise a worldwide club tournament called the FIFA Club World Cup.
The 46 members of the Asian Football Confederation come together for the annual prestigious Asia-wide club soccer tournaments, the AFC Champion’s League, the AFC Cup and the AFC President’s Cup with the top 14 Asian nations sending clubs to the Champion’s League, the next 14 nations sending their clubs to the AFC Cup and the rest of the AFC nations sending their representatives to the AFC President’s Cup, a system that was founded in 2004 when the 'Vision Asia' blueprint for development was launched.
The 53 member nations of the Confederation of African Football also send their representative clubs to compete annually in Africa’s most prestigious club competition, the CAF Champion’s League. The national cup winners from each nation are entered into the CAF Confederation Cup which replaced the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 2004.
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) stage an annual competition for the top ranking club sides in their catchment area of North and Central America and the Caribbean called the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Governed by Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the European member nations all have their own domestic leagues and cup competitions and the winners and runners up in the domestic leagues are eligible to qualify for the most prestigious club soccer tournaments in the world – the European Champion’s League (also known as the European Cup) and the UEFA Cup.
2007 sees a change in club soccer in Oceania with the new Oceania Champions League taking over from their previous prestigious competition, the Oceania Club Championship, which allowed the winners entry into the FIFA World Club Cup.
Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) are the only federation to rival UEFA in terms of the actual value and prestige shown by their showcase annual club soccer tournaments and they run the Copa Libertadores de America and Copa Sudamericana which are the South American equivalents of the European Champion’s League and UEFA Cup.
