Gianni Infantino
The FIFA Council has approved the Annual Report 2022, which highlights FIFA’s record breaking revenue of US$7.6 billion during the 2019-2022 cycle and the US$11 billion that is expected to be earned during the 2023-2026 period.
“FIFA’s unprecedented investment in football is the result of our solid financial transparency and stands as a concrete example of how we are aiming to make football truly global,” said Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA. “The resounding success of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been key to the organization’s ability to fulfil its mission in relation to our member associations and the world of football, despite the multiple challenges we faced during the past cycle, not least the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Following the decision taken by the FIFA Council in December 2022 to expand the FIFA Club World Cup from 24 to 32 teams, with the first such edition set to take place in June-July 2025, the Council unanimously approved the respective slot allocation. The decision was taken based on a set of objective metrics and criteria, and the resulting allocation is as follows: four for AFC, four for CAF, four for Concacaf, six for CONMEBOL, one for OFC, 12 for UEFA and one for the tournament host.
In relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2023, which is due to be played under the current format with seven clubs, the FIFA Council unanimously appointed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation as tournament hosts from December 12 to 22, 2023. In addition, the FIFA Council confirmed that, in line with the long standing tradition of having all hosts competing at the FIFA World Cup, as well as sporting and operational considerations, the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico and the United States, will qualify automatically for the final round of the competition, with their slots therefore being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to Concacaf.
The FIFA Council were also updated on the appointment of the following tournaments by the FIFA Congress as per the following dates: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Q2 2024 (with bid regulations for approval in March 2023), FIFA World Cup 2030 in Q3 2024 (with bid regulations for approval in June 2023) and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2031 in Q2 2025 (with bid regulations for approval in Q2 2024).