A steady stream of controversy hasn’t stopped FIFA from earning an incredible sum from this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Fifa’s revenues for the four-year cycle around the 2022 World Cup are expected to be more than $1bn (€977m) greater than projected, as it filled the sponsorship portfolio with three late additions.
Speaking at the Fifa Executive Summit on the eve of Qatar 2022 on Sunday, Fifa president Gianni Infantino outlined the increased expectations from the cycle leading into the tournament.
Football’s global governing body said that it banked a record $7.5 billion in commercial deals for the four years associated with this World Cup.
That sum represents an increase of more than $1 billion from the four-year cycle associated with the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Sponsors from host country Qatar helped drive revenue with Qatar Energy being a top-tier sponsor of the tournament, while bank QNB and telecom company Ooredoo are third-tier.
FIFA’s reserves will reach around $2.5 billion with the tournament target which could reach over 5 billion viewers, more than 60% of the world’s population.
Amidst the record revenue generation, a lot of controversies have plagued the global showdown in Qatar with the most recent one being the nature of the media coverage and treatment of media members which have both received ample negative attention in the tournament’s early stages.
Writer Grant Wahl said he was detained and had his phone temporarily confiscated for refusing to take off a shirt that showed a soccer ball surrounded by a circular rainbow. Security officials said the shirt was political and could lead to issues in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
New York Times reporter Andrew Das was also briefly detained after Wahl told him what was happening in the middle of the incident.
Fox, which holds English-language rights to the World Cup in the U.S., has received broad criticism for ignoring Qatar’s human rights issues amidst all the allegations levelled against them.
England and other countries who wanted to protest against human rights abuse in the Middle East country have called it quit as FIFA instructed that any player who wears the One Love armband which symbolises the concerns of the LGBT community during matches be yellow carded even before kickoff.