FIFA boosts cash payments for World Cup
VANCOUVER: FIFA on Tuesday announced a sharp increase in overall financial distributions for this year’s World Cup, boosting cash payments to nearly $900 million following concerns over the spiraling costs for teams taking part in the tournament. FIFA said in a statement that money shared from the tournament — being staged in Mexico, Canada and the United States — would now total $871 million, up from an initial figure of $727 million announced in December. Tuesday’s announcement followed a meeting of FIFA’s ruling council ahead of the body’s Congress in Vancouver taking place on Thursday. The hefty increase comes after several FIFA members reportedly raised concerns that the high cost of travel, tax and overall operations could result in them losing money from taking part in the tournament. FIFA has now moved to alleviate those concerns, increasing an award of $1.5 million for preparation costs to $2.5 million for each of the 48 qualified teams. A payment of $9 million for qualifying for the tournament has also been increased to $10 million. Further contributions for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations are also part of the overall increase. “FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our member associations in an unprecedented way,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game.” FIFA is projected to earn around $13 billion from the current four-year World Cup cycle, which concludes with this year’s tournament, the largest World Cup in history. FIFA’s prize money for the 2026 tournament announced last year had already shattered the cash handed out at the 2022