World Cup countries fear losing money at tournament because of high costs

Countries who have qualified for the World Cup are so worried at the exorbitant fees being charged in connection with the tournament fear they will actually LOSE money. Several nations have expressed their serious fears at the tournament being a financial disaster. Some will raise the issue at the FIFA congress which takes place in the Canadian city of Vancouver later this week. There is fury that daily allowances FIFA allocate delegates have been slashed by one third since the last World Cup in Qatar . Participating nations were given £630 a day per person in 2022 that has been cut to £430 this summer. They hope there will be a u-turn on some of the costs or that FIFA will give them a larger slice of the profits. Their principal complaint is the huge cost of booking hotels and training centres in the United States, Canada and Mexico. One FIFA source, who asked not to be identified, told the Mirror : “There is a real concern that several countries will actually lose money. This is the most lucrative sporting event in the world . ‘Smaller countries should be making decent money from it. It’s scandalous that they are even having to consider losing money on what will be the biggest sporting event they will have ever taken part in. “There are movements to raise the issue in Vancouver and hope that something sensible can be worked out.” Four nations will be making their world cup debuts: Cape Verde, Curacao, Uzbekistan, Jordan and. The 76th FIFA Congress will take place on Thursday. It will bring together representatives of all 211 member associations in Canada which will be hosting the FIFA Congress for the second time having previously been held in Montreal in 1976. The issue of allowances will be brought up and will be discussed in full. The source added: “It’s not just the smaller nations complaining about the money. Some of the larger ones are not happy as well. It’s a problem.” The World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico starts on June 10th and ends with the final in New York City on Sunday 19th July. England will be based in Kansas City and will play their group games in Dallas, Boston and New York. The Mirror has reached out to FIFA for comment.