The 75th FIFA Congress met in Asuncion, the first time FIFA’s supreme legislative body has gathered in Paraguay, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino outlining the groundbreaking impact the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will have on football across the world.
The new FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on 14th June in Miami and includes a prize pot of USD 1 billion for the 32 participating clubs.
There is also a USD 250 million solidarity fund for non-participating clubs, which means the tournament’s legacy will be felt long after the final on 13th July.
The FIFA Club World Cup will play a key role in ensuring FIFA returns a record-breaking USD 13 billion for the 2023-2026 cycle as reflected in the detailed budget for 2026 and the revised cycle budget for 2023-2026, which were approved by the FIFA Congress along with FIFA’s financial statements for 2024.
FIFA has wanted to expand the women’s tournament from 32 teams to match the men’s World Cup which has 48 teams for the first time next year, when the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico. The decision follows one month after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said it had just one candidate bidding for each of the 2031 and 2035 women’s tournaments — the U.S. followed by the United Kingdom.
FIFA is expected to confirm these two hosts next year. Brazil will host a 32-team Women’s World Cup in 2027. FIFA said the bigger, 104-game tournament with 48 teams “will significantly broaden representation, offering more nations and players access to elite competition and accelerating investment in women’s football worldwide.” The Women’s World Cup had just 16 teams as recently as the 2011 edition in Germany, 24 teams at each of the next two tournaments in Canada and France, then 32 teams for the first time in 2023 co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The 2023 edition defied concerns the tournament had grown too fast, would have too many overmatched teams and too many lop-sided results. In 2019, the defending champion U.S. team beat Thailand 13-0 in their opening group-stage game. In 2023, the biggest win was the Netherlands beating Thailand 7-0, and the tournament “set a new standard for global competitiveness,” Infantino said Friday in a statement, because “teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage.”
The expected expansion plan was welcomed by the global players’ union FIFPRO, which called for “inclusive decision-making and cooperative planning.” “It is critical that the global development of women’s competitions goes hand in hand with improved labor conditions and the advancement of players, as well as development further down the pyramid,” the Netherlands-based union said. “This is the only path to true sustainability, expansion, and progress.” In recent years, FIFA has updated and improved contractual protections for players and coaches during pregnancy and after giving birth.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Mist has shrouded the postponement of Fifa President, Gianni Infantino’s visit to Malawi.
Infantino was expected to inaugurate Mpira Stadium in Blantyre on Wednesday , but cancelled his visit at the 11th hour due to safety reasons.
In a statement, Football Association of Malawi (Fam), said the cancellation of the trip was as a result of ongoing rehabilitation works at Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.
However, Department of Immigration in the country says they were not aware of Infantino’s itinerary as they were not advised in advance that the Fifa boss would arrive through Chileka Airport.
Immigration spokesperson, Blessious Ayinane confirmed the development to Daily times that bigger aircrafts cannot land at Chileka Airport as it was under construction.
“As Immigration Department we are not aware that Fifa President Gianni Infantino was to land at Chileka Airport today [Tuesday] we are also reading from the media.
There are rehabilitation works taking place at the Airport including the main runway and that bigger planes like South African Airways, cannot land here; only Bombardier( small plains can use this Airport,” he said.
Quizzed on whether office of Fifa or Fam informed them of Infantino’s visit, Asiyane said they were not notified.
“They did not inform us. We could have advised them earlier,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fam General Secretary, Alfred Gunda Wednesday issued a statement, announcing the postponement.
“This is due to the ongoing rehabilitation works on the Chileka International Airport main runway which makes it not possible for the Presidential Jet carrying the Fifa President and his entourage to land. After carrying out a full assessment of the secondary runway, Fifa Aviation at the last minute ruled that they couldn’t take a chance to land at Chileka Airport for safety reasons,” Gunda said in the statement.
“Alternative efforts to have the plane land at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe and use other means to transport the delegation to Blantyre were not successful due to the tight schedule of the Fifa President who was expected to arrive in the country at 2pm and leave at 7pm for Democratic Republic of Congo.”
While in the country, Infantino was expected to among other things tour Fifa funded projects including Chiwembe Technical Centre and launch Fam Football Academy.
The Fifa boss was also expected to be accompanied by Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o and other high profile officials.
Confederations of African Football (Caf) President Ahmad Ahmad, Fifa General Secretary Fatma Samoura, Deputy Secretary General Football, Mattias Grafstrom, Fifa Acting Head of Communication Onofre Costa, Fifa Presidents office Manager Federico Raviglione and Fifa Regional Development Officer David Fani.
Meanwhile, Flames legends Ernest Mtawali and Patrick Mabedi were set for the showpiece.
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