WORLD football governing body FIFA has claimed that it has disposed $2.8 billion towards football development projects across the world in the past seven years.
This amount is what the body has made available to member associations in the FIFA Forward programme, it said today.
“FIFA made approximatively USD 2.8 billion available to the 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs), the six confederations, and the various zonal or regional associations, and funded more than 1,600 specific projects with a long-term impact on football development during the first seven years of FIFA Forward, according to the global report into the programme,” FIFA stated today.
“Established in 2016 after Gianni Infantino took office as FIFA President, and with the express aim of giving everyone around the world the chance to play football, the FIFA Forward programme has made a significant contribution to football development activities since its launch.”
Infantino said the funds have covered all aspects of football development as FIFA aims to continue to grow the game globally.
“We pledged that revenues generated by football would be used for the benefit of our sport all around the world, for girls and boys, women and men, and we were as good as our word,” said Infantino.
“Investment in football is both our responsibility and our obligation, and through FIFA Forward we have the structure to do that in a viable and transparent way. The outcome has been a sevenfold increase in investment since 2016 – during a spell in which FIFA’s revenues have not even doubled. This shows that funding is not only being delivered correctly, but it is being monitored and implemented to ensure the sustainable development of football for the long term.”
The report outlines that 80% of the investment across FIFA Forward 1.0 and 2.0 from 2016 to 2022 – more than $2.24 billion – was made directly to member associations both to make an essential contribution to the operations of football development activities and to enable investment in specific projects with a long-term impact on football development.
It breaks down the investments between 2016 to 2022 into eight categories.
Administration and Governance used $448.8 million as the biggest investment area across the 211 member associations, closely followed by Infrastructure ($415.2 million). National Teams ($357.5 million), Competitions ($186.1 million), and Equipment and Others ($181.1 million) saw significant funds dedicated to them, as did Women’s Football ($110.9 million) and Capacity Development ($86.8 million). Football operating expenses and unused funds (USD 135.6 million) accounted for the remainder of the global sum.
The funds invested resulted in no fewer than 577 new pitches being laid and 208 new competitions established, directly providing more than 300,000 women and men around the world with new opportunities to play the game they love, FIFA added.
“Through the Forward Programme, FIFA works every day with every single member association to develop football and this continuous activity at every level is what underpins the success of our sport and the impact that we are seeing through Forward will help to safeguard this success for future generations,” interim FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström explained.
From 2023, FIFA Forward 3.0 promises to deliver more improvements than ever before with each member association eligible to receive up to $8 million per four-year cycle, with additional funding available for confederations and zonal or regional associations, FIFA noted.
