ZURICH: The 70th FIFA Congress convened remotely for the first time, as all the 211 member associations joined via videoconference on Friday.
With a predicted drop of $120 million in revenue for the period 2019-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FIFA Congress approved a revised budget for the four-year financial cycle.
The revised revenue budget has reduced from $6.56 billion to $6.44 billion. FIFA said the drop of $120 million reflected the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but insisted that investment in football would continue unchanged for the full 2019-2022 cycle, with a reduction in the expense budget to compensate for lower revenues, reports Xinhua news agency.
Since the approval of the COVID-19 Relief Plan in June, FIFA has received applications from over 150 member associations.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino also reiterated FIFA’s prioritisation of women’s football through the recently-launched FIFA Women’s Development Program and investment totaling $1 billion over the current four-year cycle.
Additionally, the FIFA Congress also approved amendments relating to players switching national teams.
