FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been reelected until 2027 and has promised that this year's Women's World Cup will have $150 million in prize money -- 10 times the 2015 figure. The 52-year-old replaced Sepp Blatter as FIFA chief back in 2016, retained the role in 2019 and has now been reelected unopposed for four more years.
"Our mission will be able to have equality in payments for 2026 men's and 2027 women's World Cups," said Infantino at the 73rd Fifa Congress in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday. "We are discussing organizing a Women's Club World Cup."
The 2022 World Cup final in Qatar boasted a $440 million total prize fund and the tournament was a success on the field but messy away from it considering a number of controversies. The topic of the country's use of migrant workers, same-sex relationships views, disputed human rights record and FIFA's heavy-handed stance on the OneLove armband all came in for scrutiny.
Under Infantino, FIFA have also looked into a World Cup every two years which provoked fierce criticism across the global soccer community.
"It is an incredible honor and privilege, and a great responsibility," Infantino said of his reelection. "I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world. To those that love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me…I love you all."
Infantino also declared a need for "way more" soccer which comes in the wake of an expanded 2026 World Cup which will feature 48 teams as well as plans to develop a FIFA World Series every two years "when teams are free from playing qualifiers."
"When I hear there is too much soccer, yes, maybe in some places, but not everywhere," he said. "In fact, in most parts of the world, there is not enough football played. We need way more and not less competitions. We want football to develop worldwide."
The 2026 World Cup will be held in the U.S. alongside Mexico and Canada with 16 additional teams for 104 games instead of 80. The tournament goes from eight groups of four to 12 groups of four.
The potential winners in 2026 will have to play eight games instead of seven in order to be victorious and a 32-team Club World Cup will also be introduced from 2025.
Infantino also mentioned a potential global salary cap across soccer.
"We must improve our regulations and the FIFA statutes. We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries," he said.
"It might be necessary to introduce a cap. We have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do."
