240m around the world play soccer

240m around the world play soccer

ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP): Soccer's claim to be the "World Game" was bolstered by the news that one in every 25 of the world's population plays the game regularly, the sport's world governing body FIFA revealed on Tuesday.

The survey found that there are over 240 million active soccer players globally, with the United States leading the way with a massive 18 million players. Indonesia has 10 million and China 7.2 million.

Countries that traditionally dominate the international scene, Brazil and Germany, have seven and six million, respectively.

Other statistics reveal that 20 million women play the game while there are 1.5 million teams and 300,000 clubs. FIFA holds order over these vast minions with the help of five million referees and match officials.

The survey was conduced by FIFA last summer with 80 percent of their member soccer federations responding. The figures do not include children or casual players.