FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a press conference Reuters/Matthew Childs
Doha: FIFA will earn up $700 million more from the Qatar World Cup than it did four years ago despite relentless criticism in the build-up to the tournament, president Gianni Infantino said on Saturday.
Infantino said media rights were up about $200 million compared with the 2018 tournament in Russia, sponsorship was $200 million extra and tickets and hospitality would bring in $200 to $300 million more.
"All in all this World Cup will generate for FIFA around $600-$700 million more than the last World Cup," he said ahead of the Sunday's opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
Infantino said he would reveal FIFA's global revenues for the past four years to national associations on Sunday.
But he insisted the Qatar tournament -- which has faced criticism over rights issues and its climate -- had defied doubters.
"I was told that sponsors will jump from FIFA, people will switch off their TV, they will not watch the World Cup because of the scandal, nobody will come to Qatar anyway because it is winter."
Hailing a "commercial success", Infantino said: "If so many people around the world have invested so much money in the World Cup in Qatar, they invest because they believe in FIFA" and "trust" Qatar.
"Either those people are stupid, or somebody, those who say nobody will watch it, that nobody cares about this World Cup, might be little bit wrong as some of the polls in some countries were wrong as well."
