The Surinamese Football Association (Dutch: Surinaamse Voetbal Bond [ˌsyːriˈnaːmsə ˈvudbɑl ˌbɔnt]) is the governing body of football in Suriname. It organizes the Surinamese football league system, the Surinamese Cup, Suriname President's Cup, Suriname national football team, and the Suriname women's national football team. It is based in Paramaribo, and is a founding member of CONCACAF and a member of FIFA.
Just like neighboring French Guiana and Guyana, Suriname are not members of the South American CONMEBOL confederation, but instead of CONCACAF, which covers North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Founded on 1 October 1920, the Surinamese Football Association was not the first official football association of Suriname, their main competitor as governing body of football in the country was the NGVB (Dutch Guyanese Football Association). Prior to the foundation in 1920 there was another governing body in Suriname by the same name, which was founded 1914. There was a lot of animosity between both associations, until president Emile de la Fuente settled their differences during the opening ceremony of the National Stadium.
With the foundation of the SVB, the development of football in the country reached new heights. It was better organized in accordance to the rules of the Dutch Football Association (NVB).
Some of those rules in the founding years included:
To develop a professional league in Suriname and to get the Surinamese people to support the league and national selection, the SVB signed a deal with Telecommunications Company of Suriname Telesur on 30 September 2016. In this deal Telesur's daughter company ATV has received the rights to broadcast all Surinamese matches live. In this deal ATV will also establish a program that will provide viewers with soccer news to keep them up to date with the SVB and the soccer in Suriname. This deal has been considered one of the best made so far by the SVB and will last 3 years.
As of 2017[update]
The SVB have several member associations (Dutch, Lidbonden) who are involved in the organization and facilitation of the sport throughout the different municipalities and districts of the country. Hosting their own independent amateur leagues, the winners of each member association participate in the Lidbondentoernooi which leads to promotion to the SVB Eerste Klasse. The presidents of each member association also receive a vote in the presidency seat of the Surinamese Football Association (SVB).[5]