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FIFA
Gianni Infantino unveils FIFA’s
strategic objectives for the
FEDERATIONS
2023-27 cycle
D eveloping talent, raising the standard of football globally and giving more countries the chance to compete at the high- est level are at centre of FIFA's plan for the 2023-27 cycle, which was laid out during the FIFA Football Summit in Jeddah by Gianni Infantino. Based on 11 strategic objectives, and the over-riding principle "Football Unites the World", the four-year plan clearly sets out
FIFA’s aims on and off the pitch.
“We are here to organise football, not meet- ings. So, we must make sure that the meet- ings are short and efficient, so that we can go on the pitch and make sure that football is played in every corner of the world by every girl and every boy who just wants to kick a ball,” the FIFA President said.
The cycle will see the full implementation of FIFA Chief of Global Development Arsène Wenger's ground-breaking Talent Develop- ment Scheme (TDS) as part of a strategic ob- jective focusing on Player, Coach and Ref- eree development. TDS strives to give every talented player the chance to flourish, estab- lish FIFA Academies --- high-quality training environments for talented girls and boys -- in 75 member associations and invest in coach education and training of match officials. Young players also need competitive football to develop and this links to the objective of organising more youth tournaments at vari- ous age levels. FIFA has already made a start by expanding the FIFA U-17 World Cup to 48 teams for boys, 24 for girls and staging both annually.
Similarly, FIFA aims to provide its member associations with new international match opportunities for their national teams and clubs -- one example being the FIFA Series, where FIFA will organise mini-tournaments in the March international window of even years to bring together teams from different
confederations. One of the strategic objec- tives is to organise the FIFA Club World Cup 2025TM with 32 teams, opening up greater opportunities for club sides from around the world.
A further objective is to ensure that the FIFA World Cup 2026TM will be the greatest show on Earth. The expansion to 48 teams allows more countries to dream of qualifying, giv- ing them a greater incentive to invest in tal- ent development. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM was the greatest ever and has been driving further development in wom- en’s football.
Off the pitch, FIFA will continue to revise the FIFA Statutes and improve regulations, im- plement further transfer system reform and address other governance-related matters and achieve a minimum of USD 11 billion revenues. Technology will play a key part as FIFA engages with younger fans through eFootball, further evolves VAR and expands its digital footprint to reach wider audiences. FIFA will continue to use football to play a positive role in society, which is to focus on social responsibilities, in particular human rights and climate-related aspects.
The FIFA Council met twice in the final quarter of 2023 and took key decisions that will shape its future competitions.
At the first meeting on 4 October, the Council unanimously agreed that the joint Morocco/ Spain/Portugal bid would be the only candi- date to host the FIFA World Cup 2030TM. It was also agreed to host a unique centenary celebration ceremony in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, where the first-ever FIFA World Cup took place in 1930, as well as one World Cup match each in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay respectively. It was further agreed that the member associations from the Asian Football Confederation and Oceania Football Confederation regions would be invited to bid for hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2034TM. Following the deadline on 31 October, FIFA confirmed the Morocco/Spain/Portugal bid had made a declaration of interest for the 2030 tournament and Saudi Arabia for 2034. FIFA will conduct thorough bidding and evaluation processes with the hosts to be appointed by separate FIFA Congresses expected to take place by the final quarter of 2024.
The FIFA Club World Cup 2025TM, the first with 32 teams, was at the centre of the 17 December meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the FIFA Council unanimously ap- proved the method used to calculate the club ranking that will be used to determine some of the participants. This ranking will be based entirely on sporting criteria.
Chile was awarded the hosting right for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025TM and Poland the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026TM.
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