10 | FIFA Governance & Administration

FIFA Governance & Administration comprises all costs related to the governance and administration of FIFA.

FIFA recognises that as the capabilities of digital technologies evolve, customers expect higher standards of performance and communication. In order to keep up with developments in new communication innovations and technology-enabled interactions, FIFA continued its investment in ICT consultancy and external support services to strengthen its provision of state of-the-art customer experience solutions. In 2021, expenses for the development and deployment of ICT technologies amounted to USD 6.6 million (2020: USD 8.5 million), media and digital media to USD 6.8 million (2020: USD 2.5 million), and producing and sharing editorial content to USD 5.9 million (2020: USD 1.6 million). Remaining expenses comprising communication services, public affairs and strategic planning totalled USD 4.4 million (2020: USD 1.8 million). The division continued to support its esports and gaming activities to the tune of USD 2.4 million in 2021 (2020: USD 1.7 million).

Information technology includes the development and use of computing technology, data and products, which are constantly enhanced and updated at FIFA to make business operations, events and administration more efficient. Examples include systems such as the FIFA’s enterprise resource planning tool to manage day-to-day business activities, the Integrated Football and Event System and FIFA event platform to manage event administration and event planning, and identity and access management tools to control user access within FIFA. To support the selection process of new technologies and keep up to date on all the latest technology trends, FIFA sources additional expertise externally. In total, the implementation and use of such technologies and products alongside its consultancy activities generated expenses of USD 15.8 million in 2021 (2020: USD 13.9 million).

FIFA also constantly invests in its infrastructure and operations, which includes the foundational elements of technology and information management, such as computers, servers, data and cloud-based services. In 2021, such expenses amounted to USD 5 million (2020: USD 7.2 million).

In order to secure FIFA’s digital assets, investments of USD 4.6 million (2020: USD 3.8 million) were made in information security, mainly in relation to the protection and processing of information.

Legal costs cover various legal matters with respect to disputes and consultations in relation to the core business of FIFA as well as legal and governance costs related to investigations. For further details, please refer to Note 26 – Provisions and Note 32 – Contingent liabilities.

The Buildings and maintenance line item contains the servicing and renovation costs of all of FIFA’s properties and offices. Having implemented a new hybrid work model in 2021, FIFA took a fresh look at its space requirements and considered how to create working conditions that were best suited to collaboration and its corporate culture. As a result, the organisation decided to redesign its working space to support the new hybrid model while increasing its office efficiency. In this regard, FIFA was able to divest itself of a significant amount of rented office space.

Ever mindful of the official advice regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA added various hygiene and safety measures to its standing practices in all locations.

The expenses consist of maintenance work for the Home of FIFA amounting to USD 3 million (2020: USD 2.6 million) and to USD 2.8 million (2020: USD 2 million) for the other properties. General servicing costs include those relating to corporate security, logistics and hospitality and amounted to USD 1.3 million (2020: USD 0.9 million).

As in 2020, the FIFA Congress was held as an online event in 2021 due to the ongoing health crisis, using a virtual platform to address football delegates all over the world. Consequently, no travel and accommodation arrangements were needed for the committee members and official delegates of the 211 member associations, the six confederations or the other Congress guests. The costs of organising the annual FIFA Congress amounted to USD 0.7 million (2020: USD 1.1 million), whereas related travel and accommodation expenses only amounted to USD 0.1 million (2020: USD 0.4 million). Other costs contained in the Annual FIFA Congress and committees line item related to the meetings of the standing committees, and amounted to USD 2.6 million (2020: USD 2.8 million).

Expected credit losses of receivables and contract assets amounted to USD -0.2 million (2020: USD 0.2 million) and represent an overall reversal of impairments of overdue trade receivables from contracts with customers.

The Other line item includes general expenses relating to FIFA Governance & Administration. As in the previous year, ongoing travel restrictions and disruptions caused by the pandemic influenced spending: however, it was possible to resume several activities in 2021, resulting in an overall increase in expenses. In detail, costs for travel and accommodation, public relations, advertising and entertainment along with general IT support expenses amounted to USD 6.4 million (2020: USD 0.1 million), consultancy, audit and translation costs totalled USD 8.6 million (2020: USD 3.5 million), while insurance and other office administration activities amounted to USD 4.7 million (2020: USD 5.4 million).

Personnel expenses in FIFA Governance & Administration refer to administration activities of FIFA and include the secondary business functions such as people management, technology development, maintenance and security operations. In 2021, personnel expenses amounted to USD 80.8 million (2020: USD 90 million).