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FIFA shoots for commercial success with Swiss headquarters move to US

By Prathapan Bhaskaran on Nov 18, 2021 | 04:38 AM IST

  • Several factors including work visas and tax breaks are on FIFA’s screen in deciding the new destination
  • President Infantino started decentralizing the world soccer body by moving some offices to Paris in June

World soccer governing body FIFA is considering a trans-Atlantic shift by taking its headquarters from Switzerland to the United States.

The move from Zurich, where a $200-million headquarters was opened in 2007, to a yet-not-decided location on the east or west coast of the US eyes expanding the world soccer governing body’s global profile and growing its multi-billion-dollar business.

FIFA is considering several factors, such as work visas and tax breaks, according to The New York Times. The focus will be on sponsorships and broadcast rights that make sports lucrative. An indication is that FIFA’s reported revenue in 2018 was $4.6 billion.

Large US population

FIFA, which has been in Zurich since 1932, revealed its interest in decentralizing the operations in June by opening another office in Paris.

“Our aim of making football global also means FIFA needs a more balanced and global organizational setup,” President Gianni Infantino said at the opening of the Paris office.

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The well-formed business ecosystem in the US is expected to be a big plus for FIFA when the move is complete. The large US population that has resisted soccer’s rise in popularity above other favorite sports like American football, basketball, and baseball. There is a significant following for ice hockey, tennis and golf although Major League Soccer (MLS) is only the fourth most followed tournament in the Americas.

The move is also calculated to bring in more operational efficiency for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be played across the North American continent spanning the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The proximity to new sponsors and Wall Street investors is seen as a major attraction for the shift to the US. FIFA’s plans to promote women’s soccer could also get a boost from the well-developed women’s soccer infrastructure in the US. It had catapulted the US to a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.

Reputation of sleaze

Infantino has been looking to grow FIFA since taking over in 2016, according to the Times, which claims the organization is interested in leaving Zurich partly to shed the reputation of sleaze surrounding Swiss operations.

Ex-FIFA chief Sepp Blatter and former UEFA head Michel Platini are facing fraud charges. Several FIFA's executive board members were arrested in Zurich in 2015 as part of a US Justice Department crackdown on corrupt business practices, including bribery.

Infantino’s enthusiasm for a US shift apart, the move to the US shores is unlikely to be relished by a huge section of FIFA officials who will then be placed in the geographical jurisdiction of US law.

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However, reports say Infantino also may be under pressure to push the trans-Atlantic move. One reason is an investigation in his relationship with Swiss former attorney general Michael Lauber following the 2015 indictment of FIFA executive.

Lauber was ousted after allegedly misleading and obstructing oversight monitors seeking information on undocumented meetings with Infantino in 2016 and 2017, according to a Times article. Both men claimed to forget details of the meetings.

FIFA states that Infantino is “fully available to cooperate with the authorities.” However, FIFA's general secretary has called the investigation into Infantino a “little grotesque and unfair.”

Cover image credit: MCaviglia


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