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FIFA likely to net $1bn from World Cup

04 May 2010 15:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. Fifa, football’s governing body, expects this year’s World Cup in South Africa to generate a net gain of $1bn in income thanks to commercial deals but is eager not to call it a profit, Financial Times reported.

Jerome Valcke said the 2010 tournament would generate $3.3bn (â‚¬2.5bn, Â£2.2bn) in income from commercial deals, and see Fifa spend $1.2bn on the tournament, including $700m in South Africa. About $1bn is being spent on development programmes, financial assistance to national associations and other projects.

But while predicting that income from sponsorship and media rights deals would increase for future tournaments, Mr Valcke said it was wrong to talk about the surplus $1bn as profit, describing it as a reserve to insulate the organization from any unforeseen financial problems.

The build-up to the tournament, starting on June 11, has seen Fifa and the South African organising committee defending themselves over security, transport and ticketing arrangements.