With ‘help’ from China, FIFA stands to gain $6.1bn from Cup

MOSCOW: China’s men’s national team has played in just one World Cup, in which it finished 31st out of 32 teams. But the nation is playing an essential role in righting the financial ship of FIFA which has struggled to regain the trust of Western firms in recent years.

According to FIFA financial documents reviewed by The New York Times, the 2018 World Cup is set to generate $6.1 billion in revenue — 10% more than FIFA had estimated and $1.3 billion more than the last World Cup in Brazil.

Revenue from television rights was 2% more than FIFA’S $3 billion target, and FIFA’S sponsorship deals generated $200 million more than the projected $1.45 billion, because of a slew of deals with Chinese firms. Seven of the 20 companies sponsoring the tournament are Chinese, up from just one at the last World Cup.

FIFA also saw a 233% increase in annual royalties last year from EA Sports, the maker of the popular FIFA video game franchise.

China’s renewed interest in football was spurred by President

Xi Jinping’s demand in 2015 that the country build a sports economy, with a particular focus on football. At the same time, Western companies were becoming increasingly hesitant of doing business with FIFA in the wake of a corruption investigation by the US Justice Department. FIFA has not signed a new sponsor from a Western nation since 2011.

FIFA plans to release the financial figures to its 211 members. The organisation is reporting profits of just over $100 million for the four-year cycle ending after the tournament, with losses of $997 million during the preceding

three years and an estimated profit of $1.1 billion this year.

FIFA’S losses in previous years are attributable to a new, more modernised accounting system, legal costs associated with the corruption case in the US and an expensive internal investigation that followed the indictments.

FIFA has also significantly increased grants for member nations under president Gianni Infantino. In his two years, Infantino has distributed $775 million; the administration of his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, spent $1.1 billion in the four years leading into the 2014 World Cup.