8. Development & Education

Since the launch of the FIFA Forward Programme in 2016, two successful iterations have been implemented: Forward 1.0 and Forward 2.0, providing USD 1.1 billion and USD 1.7 billion respectively for a variety of plans that address the needs of the six confederations and 211 member associations at the local level. Forward 3.0 came into effect in January 2023, with a record USD 2,250 million earmarked for the entire 2023-2026 cycle. Each member association can receive up to USD 8 million in the current cycle, as outlined in more detail below. In its first year, 2023, Forward 3.0 expenditures for member associations, zonal/regional associations and confederations, travel and equipment and other football associations as well as for the FIFA Football Development Fund totalled USD 469.5 million (2022: USD 605.2 million). Further details on the funds released under the Forward Programme are contained in Note 25 – Accrued expenses and deferred income and in the Annexe.

FIFA Forward project costs – member associations

Under Forward 3.0, each of the 211 member associations can receive up to USD 3 million for projects in the 2023-2026 cycle, an increase of USD 1 million over the previous iteration of the programme. During this period, FIFA will support its member associations with the implementation of well-planned, specific football projects that contribute to the achievement of long-term football development goals. Such projects include football infrastructure, capacity-building, competitions, national teams and subsidies, as well as projects involving contributions for training and maintenance equipment, IT and new media, and merchandising and marketing activities. In 2023, USD 66.5 million was invested in projects across all 211 member associations (2022: USD 258.4 million). FIFA Forward operational costs - member associations Under Forward 3.0, each member association is entitled to receive up to USD 1.25 million per year to cover its operating costs for routine activities in relation to football activities in the 2023-2026 cycle. These funds are intended to support all member associations with their daily running costs, such as salaries, rent, maintenance and other operational costs. FIFA Forward travel and equipment costs - member associations Under Forward 3.0, member associations can receive up to USD 0.3 million per year for travel, accommodation and equipment in the 2023-2026 cycle. This is intended to cover the travel and accommodation expenses of national teams and the cost of football equipment for those member associations that are most in need of support. Member associations whose annual revenue does not exceed USD 4 million are eligible for this support, and in 2023, there was total expenditure of USD 31.8 million for the 106 member associations that met the criteria (2022: USD 22 million). FIFA Forward - confederations

The six confederations recognised by FIFA are each entitled to USD 15 million per year during the 2023-2026 cycle, bringing the total annual investment to USD 90 million, an increase of USD 18 million per year over the previous iteration of the programme. These funds support the confederations in their efforts to develop, promote and organise football within their regions. FIFA Forward - zonal/regional associations The 13 zonal/regional associations (recognised by the respective confederation) are entitled to up to USD 1.25 million per year during the 2023-2026 cycle to organise regional football competitions for men, women and at youth level. FIFA Forward - other football associations Other football associations benefiting from the Forward Programme are overseas territories that are not FIFA member associations but are members of a FIFA-recognised confederation. Under this initiative, USD 1.2 million was spent in 2023 (2022: USD 1.8 million).

Football Development Fund The establishment of a dedicated Football Development Fund ensures that the total amount of funds earmarked by FIFA under the Forward Programme for football development remains available for the beneficiaries of Forward 3.0. In 2023, no Forward funds were transferred to the Football Development Fund (2022: USD 27 million). Digital development services Digital development services comprise the costs associated with the maintenance (e.g. technology, content, distribution) of FIFA’s fan-facing digital ecosystem. The goal is to grow the game globally through storytelling on FIFA.com, FIFA Social and FIFA+. On FIFA+, live matches give member associations a truly global platform and expand the reach of football worldwide. On FIFA.com, round-the-clock coverage of the global game – including extensive editorial coverage, videos, gaming and more – keeps fans entertained and engaged, and FIFA Social works to grow audiences, experiment and innovate, and to support Commercial Affiliate activity across the world’s most active digital platforms. Digital development services also include the curation and maintenance of the FIFA digital archive. The “Digital development services” line item includes the costs for content creation and updates to related platforms and features, the general development and management of digital products and services such as FIFA+ as well as the production of digital content and customer experience management amounting to USD 36.5 million (2022: USD 52.6 million). Other projects Spending on other projects covers ongoing operational and support activities of the FIFA Member Associations Division, which continues to work with FIFA member associations to integrate good governance practices based on ethics, risk management, compliance and administration. Working with the network of regional offices has increased the reach of the organisation's engagement around the globe and strengthened support for member associations. Technical solutions are also offered to promote good governance practices. These include dedicated tools and platforms such as the FIFA Connect Programme, which provides members with the transparency and control they need over their football landscape when it comes to information. In addition, FIFA’s Football Executive Programme, run in partnership with the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), provides member associations with key management tools. In 2023, expenditure amounted to USD 2.2 million for the Regional Development Offices (2022: USD 2.2 million), USD 0.3 million for the FIFA Connect Programme (2022: USD 1.9 million), USD 2 million for the FIFA Football Summit (2022: USD 16 million), and USD 22.8 million for other general expenditure, USD 8.6 million of which referred to direct member association services (2022: USD 23.6 million). Technical development programmes The aim of FIFA’s global development programmes is to improve football development in each country. Coach education and the role of the technical staff in each member association are crucial in terms of guiding talented players and their development and, in parallel, growing the game for all. FIFA is providing specific education for coach educators and technical leaders. The FIFA Training Centre, an online academy open to all, is the hub that supports this education. FIFA also deploys a network of experts who advise the FIFA member associations in establishing and implementing football development in their countries. During the various FIFA World Cups, FIFA’s Performance Analysis team provides cutting-edge information to the participating teams and a broad set of stakeholders. In 2023, expenses for educational campaigns and workshops, including those for the online FIFA Training Centre, amounted to USD 6.5 million (2022: USD 5.9 million). Analysis, consultancy and technical service expenses also included operational costs in connection with the Talent Development Scheme and the Post-World Cup Forum and totalled USD 13.5 million (2022: USD 11 million). Other development programme expenses, such as for grassroots and youth development initiatives, amounted to USD 3.1 million (2022: USD 2.9 million). Women’s football promotion Women’s football remains a top priority for FIFA. In line with the Women’s Football Strategy published in 2018, FIFA has continuously invested in resources and innovative initiatives as well as tailor-made development programmes for the 211 member associations to bring women’s football into the mainstream. These programmes have successfully laid the foundations for the women’s game, built capacity among the people involved and professionalised the environment in which players, clubs, leagues and member associations operate. In 2023, FIFA delivered the Women in Football Leadership Programme, as well as the second edition of the prestigious Coach Mentorship Programme. On the eve of the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, FIFA also organised the 2^nd Women’s Football Convention, with all 211 member associations invited to Sydney/Gadigal to discuss the global development of the game, highlighting the successes across the five pillars of FIFA’s global strategy. Continued collaboration with stakeholders also led to the publication of the Women’s Football Member Association Survey Report 2023, the third edition of the Benchmarking Report: Setting the Pace, as well as a new publication – the Female Health Project Snapshot. In 2023, support services for stakeholders in women’s football development amounted to USD 15.5 million (2022: USD 8.4 million). Refereeing After the successful performance of the match officials at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ (“FIFA Team One”), in 2023 the main goal of the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision was to ensure that FIFA Team One also performed well at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™. Beside this very successful delivery, in 2023 the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision was, as always, in charge of implementing the decisions taken by the FIFA Referees Committee, which included but was not limited to the delivery of high-quality refereeing at all FIFA tournaments and the organisation of multiple technical and VAR online and on-site activities around the globe. In addition, in line with FIFA’s leadership vision and strategy, the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision also started to plan the implementation of the new FIFA Referee Academy. Once again, FIFA oversaw the whole process of the FIFA Refereeing International Lists, registering around 4,000 FIFA match officials and organising the necessary equipment and materials for all of them across the 211 FIFA member associations. Finally, along with other external and internal FIFA stakeholders, FIFA Refereeing continues to be actively involved in the creation and development of referee education. In 2023, refereeing project expenses for FIFA World Cups, mainly for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, amounted to USD 3 million (2022: USD 4.9 million). General development and equipment expenses, which mainly refer to event-related preparation work, equipment and implementation costs such as for the VAR system, totalled USD 8 million (2022: USD 4.5 million). FIFA Foundation The FIFA Foundation’s activities focus on impacting society through the power of football and empowering children and young people to realise their full potential, whilst addressing the most pressing global challenges, thus making a tangible contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2023, the expenses of the FIFA Foundation amounted to USD 7.7 million (2022: USD 5.6 million). Education FIFA provides annual financial support to CIES, which is based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. CIES is a leading institution with an ever-expanding offering of educational programmes for the development of new football administrators and management education of athletes and sport executives, and it also serves as a reference point for research and consulting services provided to a wide range of sport stakeholders. In 2023, FIFA’s contributions to CIES amounted to USD 5.2 million (2022: USD 4.7 million). The figure includes the FIFA Master along with several worldwide postgraduate programmes, including scholarships for deserving students. Sustainability, human rights and safeguarding FIFA’s human rights work in 2023 continued to focus on addressing salient risks to persons potentially affected by FIFA’s activities, in line with FIFA’s statutory human rights commitment and its Human Rights Policy. This included due diligence programmes linked to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2023™ with a focus on indigenous rights, accessibility of disabled persons, anti-discrimination and workers’ rights. FIFA also expanded its activities to promote human rights measures across football in collaboration with member associations. Furthermore, FIFA continued to support a group of around 150 Afghan sports persons and human rights defenders whom FIFA helped to evacuate in 2021. Numerous sustainability initiatives were implemented and revolved around the delivery of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Sustainability Strategy. Another priority area of work was the implementation of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Sustainability Strategy and the related operations during the tournament. Reporting in accordance with international standards, external assurance processes, production of training and capacity-building programmes, as well as of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, offsetting of carbon emissions, and work to implement the FIFA Climate Strategy were among the activities conducted. The preparations for the FIFA World Cup 26™ also started with the creation of the tournament’s Sustainability & Human Rights Strategy, including extensive exchanges with the 16 Host Cities to complement the strategy with their environmental plans. The first-ever FIFA Safeguarding Summit took place at the Home of FIFA in October 2023 with almost 200 participants in attendance. As part of FIFA’s commitment to raise safeguarding standards in football through the FIFA Guardians Programme, the Safeguarding Summit had a two-fold objective. The first was a graduation ceremony for over 110 FIFA learners from the 70 member associations, two confederations and six regional associations that have successfully completed the FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Sport Diploma. These were the first cohort of FIFA-trained and FIFA-recognised safeguarding officers. The second objective was to hold a global conference to share safeguarding best practice and lessons learned across regions among the FIFA member associations and confederations in the form of presentations, round tables and focus group discussions involving safeguarding officers from the member associations, as well as global experts and representatives of various stakeholders in the world of safe sport. In the year of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the organisation started developing its own Safeguarding Policy and implemented a comprehensive set of safeguarding measures across all venues in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring higher standards of protection for the participating teams and all other accredited individuals. In 2023, expenses for sustainability and human rights activities amounted to USD 2.1 million (2022: USD 1.6 million) and costs for accommodation and other external services relating to the Afghan Future Fund amounted to USD 0.1 million (2022: USD 4.8 million). Anti-discrimination activities resulted in expenses of USD 0.6 million (2022: USD 0.4 million), while activities relating to safeguarding and child protection totalled 0.8 million (2022: USD 0.8 million). Audit and financial education FIFA engages globally recognised auditing and assurance firms to independently review member associations’ processes and compliance. Each year, a central audit review is conducted for each member association that has received funding from the Forward Programme. In addition, FIFA provides capacity development assistance to support FIFA’s member associations in identifying areas that require improvement. In 2023, expenses for audit and financial education amounted to USD 3.3 million (2022: USD 3.3 million). Medicine and science FIFA is committed to protecting the health and welfare of players worldwide. Related areas of focus in 2023 included the publication of the FIFA Emergency Care Manual, creating educational videos on pitchside emergency care for medical teams, emergency-care courses for FIFA match doctors and confederation chief medical officers, the development and implementation of a remote injury-spotting programme at tournaments to improve concussion management, and investment in various medical-related scientific projects, such as research on the relationship between head impacts and traumatic brain injuries. As part of its dedication to fairness in football, FIFA also implements a comprehensive anti-doping programme. In 2023, FIFA’s anti-doping expenditure was USD 0.3 million (2022: USD 0.4 million) and its medical expenditure was USD 2.1 million (2022: USD 1.5 million). FIFA Talent Development Scheme The FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) was launched as part of FIFA’s vision to promote football globally and to support the progress of all member associations towards the aim of increasing global competitiveness and bridging the gap between the different regions. In 2022, the FIFA Council approved the launch of the TDS implementation phase with funds of USD 200 million. In 2023, the TDS went live and 175 FIFA member associations have so far applied a combination of base funding and additional funding for specific talent projects. Additionally, 25 FIFA talent coaches have been deployed in 25 member associations. FIFA Museum Celebrating and safeguarding football heritage and culture globally, the museum successfully expanded its international activities in 2023 by opening its first permanent exhibition outside Switzerland as part of the new “Legends” football experience in the Spanish capital of Madrid. During the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, around 50,000 fans visited the museum’s temporary exhibition, “Calling the Shots: Faces of Women’s Football” presented by Hyundai, in Sydney/Gadigal. Three of the cultural highlights in Zurich were the public viewing for all matches of the tournament in July and August, a special exhibition called “Designing the Beautiful Game” in collaboration with the prestigious Design Museum (London), which opened its doors in Zurich in October, and the special exhibition “Paolo Rossi: Un Ragazzo d’Oro”, which celebrated the Italian 1982 FIFA World Cup™ winner in February and March. A new record number of more than 250,000 visitors were welcomed in Zurich in 2023 and another 350,000 visitors explored the museum’s digital exhibitions around the world last year. In 2023, the FIFA Museum’s operational costs, as stated in the line item, amounted to USD 8.7 million (2022: USD 6.2 million). Personnel expenses Supported by advanced tools and platforms that enable multiple teams to work remotely with great efficiency, FIFA has an agile, mobile and productive workforce that enables secure collaboration between its employees and stakeholders. In the year of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, FIFA employees were able to seamlessly move between their work locations, venue and accommodation while maintaining high levels of productivity and support activities. By successfully linking the traditional and digital parts of the development business, FIFA was able to respond effectively to the needs of its stakeholders. In 2023, personnel expenses amounted to USD 44.2 million (2022: USD 43.6 million). For further details, please refer to Note 32 – Personnel expenses. Depreciation of property and equipment In 2023, depreciation expenses for operational buildings, offices and other equipment as well as right-of-use assets totalled USD 23.6 million (2022: USD 16.7 million). FIFA did not identify any indicators for impairment in 2023.