Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques
The Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA; German: Association of French Athletic Sports Societies ) was a sports association that covered numerous sports in France at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century .
The association was founded on November 20, 1887 in Paris under the name Union des Sociétés Françaises de Course . At the beginning it was a pure athletics association, but from 1889 it opened up to other sports, including rugby union , hockey , football , fencing and swimming , which were represented by specialized commissions. In the early years, the USFSA only accepted clubs that were at least one year old and had at least 25 members. While there were 7 clubs in 1890, their number rose to 350 in 1903 and 1,700 in 1913. At its peak, the USFSA represented over 270,000 licensed athletes.
The USFSA, in contrast to competing associations, was very careful to maintain amateurism . In 1894, then Secretary General Pierre de Coubertin laid the foundation for the modern Olympic Games . A representative from the USFSA was also in charge of the establishment of the international football association FIFA , namely Robert Guérin , Secretary of the Football Department. Despite its numerous services to the sport, the USFSA received financial support from the public purse only from 1907 , in contrast to the gymnastics association Union des Sociétés de Gymnastique de France , which had been recognized by the government as a patriotic association early on .
In 1919 and 1920, many of the commissions split off and founded independent associations, for example the Fédération Française de Football and the Fédération Française de Rugby . The USFSA then disbanded.
