FIFA President Gianni Infantino thanked the 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs) for their support and progress over the last 10 years as he addressed the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, and announced that he will stand for re-election in 2027.
“I want to tell you first- the 211 (FIFA) Member Associations- that I will be (a) candidate for the election of FIFA President next year,” he said in his concluding remarks to the assembled delegates. “Thank you for your support over the last 10 years, your support today, your work, your progress, your love for the game, your commitment, and your passion.”
Earlier, during the FIFA President’s Address to the Congress, Infantino said that FIFA wanted to make sure that every child in every corner of the world had the chance to play football. He also emphasised that all 211 MAs enjoyed the same standing and that revenues from FIFA’s competitions were reinvested in football development around the world.
“One very simple principle. FIFA has 211 members and all 211 are equal,” he said. “You are all equal to us. We will not [leave] anyone behind. We will invest, and we will generate, and we will contribute to make sure that all of you- all 211- are brought into the global fabric of football.
“The benefits that we can generate from a (FIFA) World Cup, from a (FIFA) Club World Cup, from a (FIFA) Women’s World Cup, from a (FIFA) Women’s Club World Cup, and so on and forth, go back to the entire world,” he added.
“We want to give every child, in every corner of the world, an opportunity, a chance, a possibility to dream and to believe that they can make it. And even if he or she doesn’t make it, at least to spend a happy moment together playing football.”
First elected at the Extraordinary Congress in Zürich, Switzerland, on February 26, 2016, Infantino said that FIFA was now a respected, trusted, and truly global organisation which enjoyed a place at the top table thanks to the governance changes that have been implemented.
“From United Nations agencies to governments, to the top business circles: we are present, we are there, we are making our voice heard, and we are having a true and real impact,” he said.
FIFA has also focused on development and organising competitions to support the vision of making football truly global.
In the last 10 years, FIFA has invested USD 5 billion into football development through the flagship FIFA Forward Programme and investments for the upcoming fourth cycle of FIFA Forward, 2027 to 2031, will increase by 20% to USD 2.7bn.
This will provide MAs with eight times more than they received for football development before 2016. FIFA Forward is complemented by other programmes such as the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, the FIFA Football for Schools Programme and FIFA Arena, with the latter aiming to build 1,000 mini-pitches in less privileged urban and rural areas by 2031.
“It’s so beautiful that everyone wants these arenas and wants to invest and help us investing in these arenas,” the FIFA President said. He also chose to highlight other FIFA initiatives that do not receive substantial media coverage, such as the FIFA Clearing House which ensures that, every time a player is transferred, a portion of the fee is given to the club where they began their career. In many cases, these are small clubs with limited revenue streams.
“We have already distributed over USD 500 million to those clubs who need it- clubs who didn’t even have a bank account before, amateur clubs in many countries, who didn’t have the possibility to get some tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the transfer of one player. This is what we are about,” he added.
The FIFA President also referenced that having addressed governance and development, that there are business opportunities available to football, particularly after having witnessed first-hand the North American approach where “the commercialisation of sport is reaching different levels”. (FIFA)
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