How Fifa Makes & Spends Its Money

Fifa, football's governing body, is being investigated by US and Swiss authorities over claims of corruption. Fourteen people, including senior officials, are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
How does the Zurich-based multi-million-pound organisation make its money and what does it spend it on?

The US-led part of the twin investigations is looking at corruption among members of the Concacaf and Conmebol, the confederations that represent national associations across the Americas and the Caribbean.

During the four-year period of the last World Cup, each national association received at least $2m (£1.3m) from Fifa and continental federations received $17.5m (£11.4m). So the total received by all organisations on the American continent between 2011 and 2014 was around $137m.

Meanwhile, the Swiss investigation centres on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, to be held in Russia and Qatar respectively.

Any uncertainty around the World Cup is a major concern to the organisation. Fifa's own financial reports give a clear indication of how reliant the organisation is on the income each tournament generates.
Making money from the World Cup

The World Cup is the most lucrative sporting event in the world, eclipsing even the Olympics. The 2014 qualifying rounds and final tournament brought in $4.8bn (£3.1bn) over four years and, after costs are taken into account, Fifa made a profit of more than $2bn.

How much money does Fifa hold on to?

Fifa re-invests the majority of its revenue but it does hold on to a proportion of any profit to create a cash reserve. Fifa says that the reserve is important as it is extremely difficult to find insurance to cover the possible last-minute cancellation of a World Cup.

The value of this reserve has grown sharply in the last decade from $350m (£228.6m) in 2005 to more than $1.5bn (£1bn) in 2014.

The US indictment alleges over $150m (£97m) in corruption during a period of over 20 years. That currently equates to around 10% of the money Fifa has on hand for emergencies.

Culled From BBC