Council assigns FIFA Women’s World Cup™ hosting decision to FIFA Congress; also approves financial statements for 2020 and budget for 2022, published on FIFA.com

Meeting by videoconference, today the FIFA Council conferred to the FIFA Congress the decision to award FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (https://fifa.fans/3vGb89k) hosting rights.

Until now, the decision has been taken by the FIFA Council, most recently in June 2020 when the hosting rights for the 2023 edition were awarded to Australia and New Zealand. As FIFA seeks to raise the profile of the women’s game, this represents a significant step to bring the FIFA Women’s World Cup in line with the flagship men’s competition, the FIFA World Cup™ (https://fifa.fans/38qjc3Z).

The proposal will be put forward for a final decision by the 71st FIFA Congress, which will meet virtually (for the second time) on 21 May.

International match calendar and release of players

The FIFA Council received a report on the international football situation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council approved the competition regulations for the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, confirming the match schedule and draw procedure for the competition taking place in Qatar

The Bureau of the FIFA Council had extended to April 2021 the temporary amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players regarding the release of players for international duty, and FIFA, the confederations, and FIFA’s member associations remain in dialogue with national authorities about exemptions from quarantine rules for national team players.

The FIFA Council recognised that the highest priority in football is the health of the players, and therefore the discussion around the release of players for international duty must maintain this perspective, especially as the public health situation develops around the world.

2020 financials and 2022 budget

The FIFA Council also approved the organisation’s Annual Report, which contains the financial statements for 2020 and the budget for 2022.

The FIFA Annual Report 2020 focuses on the role played by world football’s governing body in the fight against COVID-19, primarily through the unprecedented FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan, which has made available USD 1.5 billion to support FIFA’s 211 member associations and the confederations through times of financial uncertainty.

The FIFA Annual Report 2020 (http://fifa.fans/2NCvWgQ) is available on FIFA.com.

FIFA Arab Cup 2021™

The Council approved the competition regulations for the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, confirming the match schedule and draw procedure for the competition taking place in Qatar from 1 to 18 December this year.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).