FIFA has a new partner in a region where the best deals for football have been made for years.
Gianni Infantino is a close friend, at least that’s what they both claim, of Donald Trump. Like the President of the United States, the President of the world football association FIFA also likes to make claims that at first glance can be classified as unfounded.
On Monday (December 29, 2025), Infantino claimed that without FIFA there would be no football in 150 countries around the world.
He was defending the horrendous ticket prices that have to be paid for the 2026 World Cup games. According to FIFA’s boss, this money will be used to finance football worldwide.
Media rights to the Club World Cup worth a billion dollars
This is unfounded because FIFA has other sources of money that are quite productive. It sells the media rights to its events, and a billion US dollars were raised for the Club World Cup last summer.
The sum was paid by the streaming service “DAZN”, which in turn received one billion from Saudi Arabia for the sale of shares.
Saudi Arabia, host of the 2034 World Cup, sponsored the Club World Cup through its sovereign wealth fund. The largely state-owned energy giant Aramco is one of FIFA’s top sponsors, as is Qatar Airways, Qatar’s national airline, host of the 2022 World Cup.
Gulf states sponsor world football
The money that finances the planet’s commercial football comes, among other things, from ticket revenues, but also from states in the Persian Gulf, which have become very rich primarily because of the proceeds from the sale of fossil fuels.
The states in the Gulf have long recognized that fossil fuels are not a model for the future and are therefore looking for new sources of income, including tourism. To increase their attractiveness, they polish the image, which has suffered and continues to suffer due to numerous documented violations of human rights. The so-called sportswashing has been an important part of gigantic marketing campaigns for many years.
Formula 1, golf, basketball, Olympic Games
Qatar has had its men’s World Cup and has now officially submitted its application to host the 2036 Olympic Games. Saudi Arabia has created a tour called “LIV Golf” that has attracted a number of stars from its rival PGA.
Abu Dhabi, next to Dubai the other of the two globally known of the seven emirates that belong to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), controls one of the most successful football clubs in the world, Manchester City.
The Dubai-controlled airline Emirates was already one of the top sponsors of FIFA, and today it continues to be one of very important football clubs such as Real Madrid and Arsenal FC.
Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia, just like in Qatar and the Emirates. A team from Dubai plays in the Euroleague for basketball, including against FC Bayern Munich.
“World Sports Summit” in Dubai in December
Dubai in particular is set to play an even greater role in the near future. The “Dubai Sports Council” (DSC), which is headed by the emir’s son, coordinates sports marketing. The DSC is also responsible for the “Dubai Sports Strategic Plan 2033”, which pursues the ambitious goal of doubling the number of annual events from around 400 to 800. The increase in annual visitor numbers is expected to be even greater – from around 1.7 to more than four million.
This is also why the “World Sports Summit” has been scheduled for December 29th and 30th, 2025 in Dubai. Motto: “Uniting the World Through Sport”.
Gianni Infantino has been using this motto in a slightly different way for a long time. “FootballUnitesTheWorld” was the hashtag again on Monday under a post on Instagram in which the president announced that he would come to Dubai at least once a year in the future.
FIFA awards ceremony from now on always in Dubai
In the emirate on the Persian Gulf, FIFA will distribute its prizes from 2026, and only there. “From 2026, the event will be the only official, annual FIFA awards ceremony,” said the world governing body.
This means that the event “The Best FIFA Football Awards” is history, at which prizes were awarded on December 16th – in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
“World class“, promised Infantino, the new event will be the New World Football Awards in Dubai, a city that “lives and breathes” football.
The new partnership, for which only a letter of intent was initially signed, highlights Dubai’s role in developing football worldwide. It’s not enough to just sell tickets.