March 27, 2021
FIFA has procured insurance coverage of $900m for the Qatar 2022 World Cup tournament. It covers the association’s additional costs on incidents of cancellation, postponement and/or relocation of the event as well as risks such as natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism, accidents, turmoil, and communicable diseases.
FIFA said the amount was the “maximum insurance volume”, in a disclosure in the small print of the governing body’s newly-published 2020 financial statements, reported InsideTheGames.biz
The statements also said, “The risks covered include natural disasters, accidents, turmoil, war, acts of terrorism and communicable diseases.”
Furthermore, they said, “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 $4.67bn in 2022. More than half, that is, $2.64bn of this would come from broadcasting rights, with a further $1.35bn from marketing rights and $500m from hospitality rights and ticket sales.
The governing body plans to invest just under $1.7bn in the competition.
FIFA said it took out the insurance in 2019, which was in advance 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.