U.S. host cities chasing FIFA for millions

The gap between the promise and the cheque

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is rarely short of a grand announcement. According to The Athletic, he confirmed earlier this year that cities hosting the 2025 Club World Cup would each receive $1 million — a figure presented as a gesture of goodwill toward host communities. What The Athletic's reporting now suggests, however, is that the financial relationship between FIFA and its American partners has been considerably less smooth in practice.

Several U.S. cities that opened their stadiums, their infrastructure, and their public budgets to the 2026 World Cup are reportedly still waiting on payments owed to them. The Athletic has not confirmed the exact sums or the specific cities involved, so the full scale of the dispute remains unclear — but the direction of the claims is consistent.

Why this matters beyond the numbers

Host cities don't just hand over a venue and wave goodbye. They commit police resources, transport upgrades, volunteer programmes, and significant municipal spending on the back of agreements struck with FIFA long before a ball is kicked. When those agreements aren't honoured on time — or at all — the costs fall on local governments and local taxpayers.

FIFA generated revenues in the billions from the 2026 tournament. The optics of cities having to chase the organisation for what they're owed are, to put it gently, not ideal.

Gianni Infantino did not look like a man who expected to be invoiced twice.

The bigger picture for future bids

This dispute arrives at a moment when FIFA is already deep into planning for the 2030 World Cup — a tournament spread across multiple continents — and beyond. Cities and nations considering future bids will be watching how this situation resolves. If the message coming out of the 2026 cycle is that host cities had to publicly pursue FIFA for money owed, that changes the calculation for anyone sitting across a negotiating table from Zürich.

The Athletic's reporting warrants close monitoring as more details emerge — and as yet, FIFA has not publicly responded to the claims.