American cities that hosted matches in the 2026 World Cup are demanding financial dues from the International Football Federation "FIFA", following previous promises that have not yet been fulfilled.
According to The Athletic network, FIFA had promised to grant each host city one million dollars as a contribution to support community projects and build small stadiums, during the 2025 Club World Cup tournament held in the United States.
The report indicated that the cities hosting 2026 World Cup matches demanded the same support, especially given the greater costs they bear over 39 days of competition.
It explained that city officials received repeated verbal promises from FIFA management to obtain these amounts, despite no official announcement being issued, but the payments have not been made so far.
The host cities include Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, and other American cities.
The report added that some organizing committees have already begun wrapping up their work after the tournament, which further complicates the mechanism for disbursing these dues.
Officials pointed to the difficulty in understanding FIFA's delay in paying these amounts, despite achieving massive revenues exceeding 15 billion dollars during the current financial cycle.
The American cities bore the bulk of the organizational costs, including security, transportation, and logistics, while FIFA received most of the revenues from tickets, broadcasting rights, and sponsorships.
This comes at a time when FIFA President Gianni Infantino faces increasing pressure following successive crises within the international federation in recent times.
Discussions between the cities and FIFA are expected to continue to resolve the financial dues file in the coming period.
