The Royal Belgian Football Association is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, the headquarters of the RBFA are located in Tubize, next to its technical centre. Its chairman is Robert Huygens.
Michele Van Gorp is a former professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), most recently with the Minnesota Lynx.
Elke Clijsters is a former professional tennis player from Belgium.
In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
Hypoliet Geraard van den Bosch, nicknamed Poly, was a Belgian football player who finished top scorer of the Belgian League in 1954 while playing for R.S.C. Anderlecht. He played 8 times with the Belgium national team between 1953 and 1957. "Poly" made his international debut on 22 November 1953 in a 2–2 friendly draw against Switzerland and he scored twice. Van den Bosch was in the team for the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society. As of 2010, Belgium counted around 17,000 sport clubs with approximately 1.35 million members, or about 13% of the Belgian population. Popular sports in Belgium are, among others: football, cycling, tennis, table tennis, athletics, swimming, basketball, badminton, judo, hockey, rowing, motocross, auto racing, volleyball, and running. Belgium has organized the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as well as the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the 2000 UEFA European Championship along with the Netherlands. The Belgium national football team's best result was a 3rd place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and a second place of the 1980 UEFA European Championship. Belgian football clubs have won 3 times the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and twice the UEFA Cup, plus 3 times the UEFA Supercup.
Elke is a feminine given name. Different sources give different accounts of its origin. One source describes it as a Low German and East Frisian diminutive of Adelheid, meaning "of noble birth". Another states that it originated as a Yiddish feminine variant of Elkan, which itself came from the Biblical name Elkanah.
The Belgian Women's Cup is the cup competition for women's football in Belgium. The Royal Belgian Football Association established the cup in 1977.
The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national teams of Europe. The competition was expanded to 16 teams.
Events in the year 1961 in Belgium.
Ives Serneels is a Belgian former professional footballer who is the head coach of the Belgium women's national football team.
Nicky Van Den Abbeele is a Belgian soccer midfielder who plays for Zulte Waregem of Belgian Women's Super League.
Nicky Evrard is a Belgian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for PSV and the Belgium women's national team.
Ella Van Kerkhoven is a Belgian footballer who plays as a Forward for Feyenoord and the Belgium national team. She previously played for Oud-Heverlee Leuven, RSC Anderlecht in Belgium and for Inter Milan in Italy.
Shari Van Belle is a Belgian footballer who plays as a defender for Belgian Women's Super League club Standard Liège and the Belgium women's national team.
Vital Van Landeghem was a Belgian footballer who played as a forward. With Union Saint-Gilloise, he became Belgian champion three times in succession. The team also received the national trophy for sporting merit in 1934, the year in which Van Landeghem also became Belgian top scorer. He played in one match for the Belgium national team in 1932.
