FIFA has secured insurance for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with the disclosure coming in the small print of the governing body’s newly-published 2020 financial statements.
FIFA said the “maximum insurance volume” was $900 million (£648 million/€754 million).
FIFA’s business model remains heavily dependent on the quadrennial tournament, which will be staged for the first time in 2022 in the northern-hemisphere winter.
According to the financial statements: “FIFA’s financial position depends on the successful staging of the FIFA World Cup because almost all contracts with its commercial affiliates are related to this event.
“In the event of cancellation, curtailment or abandonment of the FIFA World Cup, FIFA would run the risk of potentially being exposed to legal claims,” the accounts added.
FIFA is currently budgeting for total revenue of $4.67 billion (£3.36 billion/€3.91 billion) in 2022.
More than half – $2.64 billion (£1.9 billion/€2.21 billion) – of this would come from broadcasting rights, with a further $1.35 billion (£972 million/€1.13 billion) from marketing rights and $500 million (£360 million/€419 million) from hospitality rights and ticket sales.
The governing body plans to invest just under $1.7 billion (£1.22 billion/€1.42 billion) in the competition.
FIFA said it took out the insurance in 2019.
This would have been in advance of the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to affect top-level sport and has forced international spectators to be barred from the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics later this year.