As if FIFA needed yet another scandal, it is now being reported that soccer’s governing body is evading payments it verbally promised to make to the World Cup’s U.S. host cities.
Although it wasn’t announced publicly, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his management repeatedly stated their intention to pay each of the 11 U.S. cities an additional $1 million contribution for hosting multiple games across the six-week tournament, payments that have still not been made, per The Athletic. The payout was a precedent set at the FIFA Club World last year, which saw Infantino hand out $1 million to each host city for that competition, citing it as a “legacy contribution.”
This year’s host groups still awaiting payment are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, several of which have reached out to FIFA for an update on the money.
The total $11 million owed is a drop in the bucket compared to the earnings FIFA walked away with this summer, a record-shattering $15 billion, achieved in great part due to the unprecedented ticket pricing and the introduction of commercially-sponsored hydration breaks.
This is just the latest fire FIFA—and more specifically, Infantino—is facing. The president is knee-deep in begging for votes and support ahead of March’s election, facing severe backlash for his leaked proposal to sell stakes of the World Cup and continual calls for his removal.
Not the First Time FIFA, Host City Disagree on Money
New York New Jersey, which hosted eight World Cup games at MetLife Stadium, including the final, faced backlash earlier in the summer after it was revealed that the round-trip train fare from Penn Station in New York City to the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. would jump from a typical $12.90 to over $150 for fans, without any reduced fares for seniors, children and those disabilities—the norm for NJ transit.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and FIFA got into a heated online debate about the matter, with Sherrill blaming the high prices on FIFA, stating that the governing body “provided $0 for transportation to the World Cup” and instead “stuck NJ Transit with a $48 million bill to safely get fans to and from games, [while] FIFA is making $11 billion.”
Sherrill argued that she refused to make New Jersey taxpayers shoulder the additional cost “for years to come” and that FIFA should have been the one to cover it, allowing fans to affordably access a stadium that would not allow any on-site parking.
FIFA then addressed Sherrill’s claims, stating it “was quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach on fan transportation” and that “FIFA has worked for years with host cities on their transportation and mobility plans.”
The governor was quick to bite back, though: “FIFA shouldn’t be ‘quite surprised’ that [I] want it to pay for transporting its fans. The governor isn’t going to allow FIFA to make $11 billion in profits and then stick New Jerseyans with a massive bill ... NJ Transit must move four times as many riders as it does during a normal event at the venue. So NJ Transit will provide transportation for ticket holders coming into New Jersey ‘at cost’—and the cost to NJ Transit is at least $48 million.”
Fans ended up paying a little under $100 round-trip for the train fare.
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