The number of staff at world football’s governing body FIFA has doubled in less than six years, according to the organisation’s newly-published 2019 annual report.
The report says the number of full-time employees at the end of 2019 was 947.
This is almost exactly double the average number of employees said to have worked for the body in 2014, which was 474.
Personnel expenses have rocketed too, from a restated $107.2 million (£80.3 million/€90.1 million) in 2015 to $199.4 million (£149.4 million/€167.6 million) in 2019.
While it seems likely that the coronavirus pandemic may alter prevailing trends, at this rate, FIFA’s overall staffing costs during its current business cycle running from 2019 until 2022 could exceed $800 million (£599 million/€672 million).
The new document also indicates that the body headed by International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Gianni Infantino is still struggling to inject momentum into its marketing programmes.
Revealing that 2019 revenue totalled $766 million (£574 million/€643.8 million), the new document states that this “exceeded the budget by six per cent, thanks to increases in all revenue sources except marketing rights.”
At $165 million (£123.6 million/€138.6 million), revenue from marketing rights was “slightly below budget for the year”, but still five per cent up compared to the same period of the previous cycle, the report goes on.
Referring to the detailed budget for 2019 set out in FIFA’s 2017 financial report, one finds that total revenue was projected to be $722 million (£541 million/€606 million).
This is indeed six per cent less than the $766 million (£573.9 million/€643.7 million) finally achieved.
InsideTheSports
