I am very proud to present the Annual Report for 2023, another year of important milestones for FIFA and football, and a year that was particularly illustrative of the success that can be achieved when global football not only comes together but also works together.
The resounding success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, the first FIFA tournament to be held across two different confederations, which featured more teams than ever, will live long in the memory as a watershed moment and a step forward for women’s football. You will see in the pages that follow the remarkable number of impressive statistics that were achieved and the records that were surpassed in delivering that tournament. I would like to underscore that these achievements are the result of work that goes on every single day not only in the FIFA administration, but also in the administrations of the member associations, confederations, clubs and all other stakeholders. They are accomplishments of which we can all be proud. Another highlight of the year was the FIFA Congress that took place in Kigali, Rwanda. It was a pleasure to bring the entire world together again for the fourth FIFA Congress to be held in Africa. Following the unanimous re-election of FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the day, he shared with us his 11 strategic objectives to guide global football through this cycle, and the FIFA administration is already hard at work to make these a reality. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with all of you to realise these objectives on the ground in every country around the world. 2023 was also a significant year for me personally and professionally. I was given the great honour of assuming the role of Secretary General on an interim basis.
You have my firm commitment that the FIFA administration will always be at the service of global football, starting of course with our member associations, the guardians of our game around the world.
I am hugely grateful to the FIFA President and the FIFA Council for putting their trust in me to fulfil this responsibility. I have the great pleasure of leading an administration that is in great shape now and perfectly set up to manage the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. This is down to the superb job done by Fatma Samoura over seven years at the head of this administration. I am immensely grateful to Fatma for this and for her great work in putting our organisation back where it should be as a respected, credible and responsible global governing body. You have my firm commitment that the FIFA administration will always be at the service of global football, starting, of course, with our member associations, the guardians of our game around the world. FIFA will always be open to all those who care about football and who want to safeguard it for future generations to enjoy, just as we have all had the privilege of doing. FIFA is here to govern but also to listen and collaborate, and the door is always open. In this context, FIFA understands that for football to remain the exceptional force that it is, responsible change is necessary. We are always receptive to new ideas and are not afraid to innovate. Looking ahead, the future is very bright. Preparations are well under way to deliver a range of new and revamped competitions for men and women across club and national-team football, giving players, teams, fans and others more opportunities to participate and thrive. Increasing investment will be made in development via FIFA Forward, the Talent Development Scheme and other programmes that continue to be rolled out every day, hand in hand with our counterparts at member associations, confederations and regional associations globally. Foundations are also being laid to reach new heights once again at the Mundial de Clubes FIFA (FIFA Club World Cup) in 2025, the FIFA World Cup 26 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, where we will once more welcome you to share in these achievements together. I hope you will enjoy reading about these efforts and all the other positive steps that FIFA continues to make in more detail in this Annual Report.
Mattias Grafström FIFA Secretary General ad interim