Does Football Need FIFA? Breaking Down Infantino's Bold Claims About the Game's Survival

"Without FIFA, there would be no football in 150 countries in the world." That's the statement FIFA President Gianni Infantino made at the World Sports Summit in Dubai late last December—a declaration that sounds impressive until you examine it more closely.

Consider this: England and Scotland squared off in international football matches back in 1872. FIFA wasn't established until 1904. That's three decades of organized football before the governing body even existed. The notion that the beautiful game would vanish from 150 nations without FIFA's involvement is, frankly, absurd—and Infantino is well aware of that fact.

However, there's a more credible version of this claim: FIFA's own communications team adjusted the statement to something more defensible, noting that "without FIFA's financial support, more than 50 per cent of FIFA's member associations could not operate." Now that's a completely different argument. A more honest one. And it deserves a closer examination of where that money actually goes.

Breaking down FIFA's financial contributions

Under the FIFA Forward development initiative, each of FIFA's 211 member associations can receive up to $8 million USD during the current four-year cycle (2023–2026). This funding is allocated for operational expenses ($1.25 million annually), customized infrastructure developments (up to $3 million per cycle), and travel plus equipment assistance for smaller associations generating less than $4 million USD in yearly revenue. The six continental confederations—UEFA, CAF, AFC, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, and OFC—each receive $60 million USD during this same timeframe.

FIFA reports that total investment throughout this cycle will surpass $5 billion USD. That's an impressive figure on paper. But when distributed among more than 200 associations over four years, you're looking at approximately $2 million USD per association annually. That won't finance a new stadium. It will, however, cover staff salaries, maintain facilities, support women's and youth football programs that might otherwise fold, and enable national teams to participate in tournaments they couldn't otherwise afford to attend.

For nations like Comoros—an island archipelago off Africa's eastern coast—FIFA Forward has provided over $20.6 million USD in designated funding, including a technical training centre and stadium infrastructure. That's concrete support. That makes a real difference. And without it, competitive international football in such regions likely wouldn't be feasible.

FIFA's ongoing transparency challenges

FIFA's auditing procedures are legitimate: member associations must submit yearly financial statements to independent auditing firms, and the Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee possesses authority to freeze or suspend funding when misuse is discovered. Bangladesh Football Federation officials faced bans and fines in May 2024. Panama, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, the Maldives—officials from all these nations have faced sanctions.

Yet those annual audits remain confidential. FairSquare, an advocacy organization, highlighted this concern directly in an October 2024 report: "There does not appear to be any public repository of these audits." FIFA committed to independent external audits of all member associations back in 2019. That promised transparency never materialized.

Alan Tomlinson, Emeritus Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton and author of What is FIFA For?, identifies the underlying issue plainly: "FIFA needs football more than football needs FIFA. These monies have escalated so spectacularly over the last decade. What it does is it creates the potential for a system of patronage—'we will give you our vote if you give us that money.'"

This context is particularly significant because Infantino's Dubai remarks came ten days after the 2026 World Cup ticket pricing sparked worldwide criticism—and merely five days after FIFA hastily introduced a $60 USD supporter tier covering roughly 1,000 tickets per match. The revenue-generation defence feels considerably more self-interested when delivered as justification for pricing that excluded average fans.

The truthful version of Infantino's message should be: without FIFA's redistribution system, organized international tournament football wouldn't exist in numerous smaller nations. That's accurate. It's also a considerably more modest claim than "football would not exist"—and it's precisely what FIFA's own spokesperson clarified when challenged. The distinction is important, even if Infantino would prefer you overlooked it.