New starts form the central theme of the May/June issue of FIFA World with the magazine examining the first set of governance reforms going before May’s FIFA Congress in Budapest and also taking an in-depth look at the top teams who in June will be joining the qualifying race for Brazil 2014.

The proposals being discussed in Budapest form part of the ongoing reforms road map set out by FIFA in October 2011 and our lead news article explains in detail just what FIFA’s member associations will be voting on as they gather in the Hungarian capital.

Our main feature article, meanwhile, is fully focused on the pitch as the top-seeded teams from Africa, Oceania and the CONCACAF region prepare to start their qualifying campaigns for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. Following on from our previews to the South American and Asian qualifiers in recent months, we dedicate 18 pages of this month’s issue to weighing up the hopes and chances of the 60 sides competing for nine berths across the three continents.

Staying with FIFA competitions, we report on the draws that took place in April for this year’s Men’s and Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments, with on-the-spot reactions from the coaches who are dreaming of striking Olympic gold at London 2012. In anticipation of this year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup, we catch up with former playing legend Victor “Vic” Hermans who is now coaching the national team of tournament hosts Thailand. And we also say “Auf Wiedersehen” to a legend of the women’s game – Germany’s former FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winner Birgit Prinz – following the tribute match in March which marked the end of her long and illustrious career.

As always, there is plenty of “off-the-pitch” action too in the latest issue, as the magazine travels the world to bring you the latest on FIFA’s activities to promote social change through football. In the Pacific region, we discover how FIFA’s 11 for Health programme is being used to combat malaria in the Solomon Islands and obesity in Tonga. We look ahead to the social legacy plans being formulated for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and report on the opening of the latest Football for Hope Centre opened in Ghana as part of the ongoing legacy from the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Finally, we are in Azerbaijan and Japan to see how the upcoming FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups are being used to promote girls’ football in both countries.

By clicking on the “May/June 2012” link below, you can read an online version of the magazine or download it. In case you missed any of our previous issues, these can also all be accessed below.

Happy reading!

The FIFA World team