MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FIFA Council adopted various measures and decisions this Thursday before the 74th FIFA Congress to be held on May 17, among which stands out a reinforcement in the fight against racism in football, requesting the Federations to take measures together.
The Council thus supported the request of FIFA President Gianni Infantino to adopt stricter measures and strengthen the commitment of the parties involved in world football to fight racism.
“The 74th FIFA Congress will mark a turning point in FIFA’s fight against racism, which will include the adoption of stricter global measures in collaboration with Member Associations and Confederations,” Infantino said.
On the other hand, the FIFA Council unanimously approved the 2023 Annual Report, which confirms that the organization has a healthy and sustainable situation. In particular, a record amount of $2.25 billion has been set aside to finance football development during the 2023-2026 cycle as part of FIFA’s Forward 3.0 Programme.
“This means that investments in football development have increased sevenfold compared to the development programs launched before 2016,” says FIFA.
“Thanks to its strong financial governance, FIFA is on track to exceed its budget target of USD 11 billion for the 2023-2026 cycle,” said Infantino, after the session held by videoconference from Zurich (Switzerland).
“In this way, we will offer the 211 member associations more tailored services and support them in carrying out their development and training projects, all in the name of taking football to new heights,” he added.
The Council also confirmed that the voting procedure for the appointment of the host Federation(s) for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 will be decided at the next Congress, and foresees that both the result of each vote and the votes cast will be made public. .
The nomination process includes a nomination from Brazil, a joint nomination from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and a joint nomination from Mexico and the United States, which will conclude at the May Congress in Bangkok.
Furthermore, following the recent decision to expand the U-17 World Cup to 48 teams and organize this competition annually instead of every two years, it has been confirmed that, starting in 2025, the next five editions will be held in Qatar. The Women’s Under-17 World Cup, which has been expanded to 24 teams, will be held annually from 2025 and will take place in Morocco until 2029.