After a net profit of 53 million euros during 2013, Fifa’s financial cash reserves are now up to 1.06 billion euros as Senior Vice-President and chief of financial commission Julio Gordona stated during the 64th Fifa congress held in Sao Paolo shortly before the World Cup kick-off. Officially "the creation of reserves is one of FIFA’s statutory duties as it enables the organisation to ensure financial independence and prepare for unforeseen events that would seriously impact revenue streams".

Difficult these reserves will be necessary in the imminent future as the revenues of football’s leading association are, as easily predictable, expected to rise constantly. Fifa’s revenue forecast for the 2015/2018 triennium is in fact 5 billion dollars (roughly 2.3 billion from marketing and ticketing and the remaining 2.7 billion from tv rights). A remarkable record made even more impressive when considering that the Zurich based organization could count on as little as 257 million for the 1995/98 period.

Furthermore the Copa do Mundo ended last week set another record for the international governing body and for football in general as it has been declared the most remunerative World Cup ever. The tournament held in Brazil brought 4.5 billion euros of revenue in Fifa’s checkout counters; whilst about a billion euros was generated thanks to sponsors (Coca Cola, Visa, Adidas, Hyundai, Sony and Fly Emirates are their main partners), around sixty per cent of the revenues came from broadcasting rights.

Worldwide, several games ended up being the most-watched sporting events in their country in 2014. Including 42.9 million people in Brazil for the opening game between Brazil and Croatia, the 34.1 million in Japan who saw their team play Ivory Coast, and 34.7 million in Germany who saw their national team win the World Cup against Argentina. The 24.7 million American viewers during the game between the USA and Portugal sanction a new record, making it the most-watched football game in the United States, ever. Yet again confirming America’s increasing interest for the sport.

World Cup Controversies. Inevitable storms arise when so much money is generated and exchanged in events of this magnitude and public interest. One of these regards the stadiums Brazil built or renovated for the competition, as many fear that out of the twelve arenas some will most probably result in a waste of money. Above all, the Arena Amazonia (formerly the Estadio Vivaldao) sparked argument, since its 40 thousand seats are located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in a city where no major teams play. Even though basic guidelines are set to the hosting country, formally there are no strict obligations established by FIFA, as they neither demand that a country has to build 12 stadiums, nor how they are to be designed.

On a larger scale, the Brazilian government will also have to deal with inflation now up to an overall 6,52%. As companies and locals tried to boost prices to earn the most out of the World Cup, noteworthy increases were registered on transportation (plane ticket prices increased by a significant 22%) and hotel rooms (+25 per cent).

What does FIFA do with the profits from the World Cup? According to what is declared on the association’s official documents all 209 member associations will benefit in equal measure. In fact, FIFA spends $550,000 USD on worldwide football growth – every single day. Additionally they also spend nearly $2 million dollars on organising international competitions – every single day.

Regarding the WC 2014 prizes. All teams joining the final stage of the competition (that is all sides who made it to Brazil) received a participation fee of 1.5 million dollars and prize money was distributed as follows:

Phase	Prize	Teams
Group Stage	$8 Million	Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Croatia, Ecuador, England, Ghana, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Portugal, Russia,  South Korea, Spain
Round of Sixteen	$9 Million	Algeria, Chile, Greece, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA
Quarter finals	$14 Million	Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, France
Fourth place	$20 Million	Brazil
Third place	$22 Million	Netherlands
Losing finalist	$25 Million	Argentina
World Cup winner	$35 Million	Germany

 

Prize money, which has grown from the previous edition held in South Africa and which is anticipated to increase again (about 23%) for Russia 2018.

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