clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Here is how to pronounce FIFA correctly

Cristiano Ronaldo, the official ambassador of pronouncing FIFA correctly.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the official ambassador of pronouncing FIFA correctly.
Alex Livesey/Getty Images

FIFA is currently embroiled in an international corruption scandal, which is comprehensively explained here by Matt Yglesias and Joseph Stromberg. Corruption expands well beyond soccer in professional sports: we've seen cover-ups of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and cycling, and even of sexual molestation and bribes in college football.

Let's say you want to pursue a conversation about international sports corruption with one of the billions of soccer fans in the world, but you yourself are not a soccer fan and you missed the boat on the 2014 World Cup.

First, don't feel embarrassed. The fact is, as popular as soccer is outside the United States, soccer has a long way to go before it's America's football (or, more appropriately, fútbol).

Second, here is how to pronounce FIFA: the acronym sounds like fee and fuh combined (the latter is also the correct pronunciation of pho, which is a great soup).

Third, here is the incorrect pronunciation of FIFA: it is not pronounced like the figh in the word fight. In case you need proof, watch this official and scary FIFA video published on May 23, 2015.

Remember: there's no bitter fighting in FIFA ... except when there is.