FIFA

Canadian Premier League to conduct “daylight offside” trial in cooperation with FIFA when the new season gets under way on 4 April. The initiative follows discussions at the 140th Annual General Meeting of The International Football Association Board (The IFAB), where broader measures to enhance match tempo and reduce time-wasting were approved and updates were given on ongoing developments in offside-related technologies and trials. The trial, led by FIFA and approved by The IFAB, will test the so-called “daylight” principle, a shift designed to favour attacking play. Under the revised approach, an attacking player will be considered onside if at least one part of their body that can legitimately be used to score (i.e. not the hands/arms) is in line with (or behind) the second-to-last defender. A player will only be ruled offside if there is a gap – or “daylight” – between themselves and the defender. In effect, attackers must be fully beyond the second last defending player to be penalised. By introducing a clearer visual threshold, the trial is aimed at restoring a greater attacking advantage and boosting the flow of matches. FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger said: “This is an important pilot. By testing this new interpretation in a professional competition, we can better understand its impact, including in terms of improving clarity and the flow of the game and promoting attacking play. "We look forward to analysing the results of the trial phase. We thank the Canadian Premier League and the Canadian Soccer Association for their willingness to support FIFA with this pilot and for providing their competition.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/ePdDd6mA

FIFA Boots for All launches in Mexico! 🇲🇽 FIFA President Gianni Infantino has visited the Mexican Football Federation's (FMF) newly renovated High Performance Centre and taken part in the launch of the FIFA Boots for All programme in the country, which will co-host the FIFA World Cup 2026™ with Canada and the United States. The FIFA Boots for All programme provides free pairs of football boots to disadvantaged children around the world. FIFA has purchased 20,000 pairs of FIFA-branded boots in nine different sizes that will be distributed to young girls and boys who normally could not afford a pair. Mr Infantino said: “What we need to try and do all together is turn this event, this (FIFA) World Cup, at such an important moment in the world, we need to turn it into the (FIFA) World Cup of unity – to bring the world together and unite it. “We will bring joy and happiness to millions from Mexico City, and the smiles today are proof that everyone here will host the world with great passion and hospitality.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/e2hwAbGU

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has spoken of his pride and joy at seeing his pledge to use apparel produced in the Cotton-4 plus (C4+) countries of West Africa come to fruition at the launch of the FIFA Football for Schools (F4S) programme in Cameroon 🇨🇲 At the 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in February 2024, the FIFA President had said apparel for FIFA programmes would be sourced from C4+ countries as one of the next key steps within the Memorandum of Understanding he signed with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in September 2022. Children attending the F4S event in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, wore T-shirts and polo shirts produced within the C4+ bloc – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire – to kick off the initial phase of FIFA fulfilling that promise. Mr Infantino said: “I am delighted that FIFA is officially launching today the initiative to manufacture apparel for students and teachers in the Cotton4+ countries under the FIFA Football for Schools programme. “We are proud to be delivering on the commitments made during the last Ministerial Conference, and as FIFA President, I am honoured to support this initiative. Equally, I would like to thank the governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, Doctor Ngozi and all the partners of the Partenariat pour le Coton for their strong team spirit and collective effort in making this initiative a reality.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/erard4hE

FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström paid a visit to the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) Campus in Zeist this week, meeting with KNVB President Frank Paauw and KNVB General Secretary Gijs de Jong. The visit to the KNVB Campus, to the home of what is one of the founding FIFA Member Associations, also coincided with the tenth anniversary of the passing of Oranje's most shining star on the field, the unique talent and the global football innovator that was Johan Cruyff. The Netherlands men's national team were on-site as preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States continue, with the Dutch opening their group stage campaign on 14 June against Japan in Dallas. "The KNVB Campus is both impressively compact and modern, a real place where performance and innovation come together – in what is a historic place for Dutch football," said the FIFA Secretary General, who shares Dutch and Swedish nationality. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e9kc5hRV

FIFA, UNODC and global lawmakers unite in Zurich to strengthen fight against racism in football 🇨🇭 Lawmakers from across the globe joined football stakeholders at the Home of FIFA in Zurich last week for a two-day expert-group hearing aimed at strengthening criminal justice responses to racism in football. Jointly hosted by FIFA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the meeting marked the latest step in a collaboration formalised through a memorandum of understanding signed in 2023, which seeks to enhance international cooperation, develop comprehensive policy guidance and equip governments with the tools to combat discrimination more effectively. Discussions focused on the need for stronger legal and policy frameworks worldwide, with particular emphasis on capacity-building in criminal justice systems and improving victim-centered response. In addition, participants addressed the persistent issue of under-reporting, especially at grassroots level, where a culture of silence continues to undermine efforts to counter hate speech. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “I once again stress the need for awareness and the importance of legislation in different countries to tackle the problems of racism and discrimination. Of course, education and peer cooperation are vital tools to internalise mutual respect and good practices, and football can certainly act as a catalyst in this regard." Read more: https://lnkd.in/eTEMZscr

The FIFA Series 2026™ has been updated — and it's bigger than ever. Australia, India, Malawi and hosts Kenya bring the FIFA Series 2026™ women's line-up to 16 participating teams, with games to be played at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi. The FIFA Series 2026 will feature an impressive total of 50 men’s and women’s national teams competing in 13 groups across 12 host nations from all six continents. The 53 combined matches, played between 25 and 31 March (men’s) and 9 until 18 April (women’s), offer participating teams the priceless opportunity to test themselves under the FIFA spotlight against opposition from diverse regions. The three previously scheduled women’s groups will take place in Brazil – the FIFA Women's World Cup™ 2027 host – Côte d’Ivoire and Thailand. On the men’s side, the schedules in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have been revised to reflect the withdrawals of Kuwait and Oman due to extraordinary circumstances. The updated FIFA Series 2026™ match schedule is now available here: https://lnkd.in/eBtSW6jE

Applications for the 5th edition of FIFA Executive Programme in Sports Arbitration are now open! The programme is a leading initiative designed to bridge theory and practice in football law, offering participants the opportunity to exchange directly with arbitrators, lawyers and experts in the field. FIFA is one of the most active international organisations before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), managing hundreds of cases annually, from disciplinary appeals to contractual disputes and the decisions of its judicial bodies. This multi-module programme provides a comprehensive and practical exploration of the principles, procedures and best practices that underpin sports arbitration globally. Guided by experts in sports law and arbitration, participants will engage in interactive sessions, real‑world case studies and peer discussions to develop a robust understanding of dispute‑resolution mechanisms and strategies in football and global sport. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eKv5yE7D

FIFA's biggest global development programme to increase 🌍📈 FIFA’s ongoing efforts to promote football around the world were underpinned by the unanimous approval of the Annual Report 2025, including a record-breaking revenue budget of USD 14 billion foreseen for the 2027-2030 cycle, which of course will be reinvested in the game. During the upcoming cycle, FIFA’s Member Associations will be entitled to benefit from an eightfold increase in football development investment in comparison to the programmes that were in place prior to 2016, as FIFA Forward investments will reach a new high of USD 2.7 billion. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “FIFA is fulfilling its mission to improve and promote the game globally by reinvesting unprecedented resources into football. This is not just about numbers, but about concrete outcomes, such as more opportunities to compete at the highest level for men, women and youth players, as well as better infrastructure and enhanced access to technology across all our FIFA Member Associations, to mention but a few. “FIFA has taken massive strides in terms of football investment in the past ten years. This wouldn’t have been possible without the FIFA World Cup, which remains our main source of income. A successful FIFA World Cup means more children playing football and benefiting from its educational power, more pitches and more capacity-building across the world.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/enq2_9_u

FIFA Council highlights power of football and the FIFA World Cup™ to build bridges and promote peace. FIFA’s steadfast commitment to peace and unity was at the core of the online FIFA Council meeting held at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, at which FIFA President Gianni Infantino called for peace and reiterated the key role of football to bring people together in times of continuous geopolitical turmoil. President Infantino said: “FIFA can’t solve geopolitical conflicts, but we are committed to using the power of football and the FIFA World Cup to build bridges and promote peace as our thoughts are with those who are suffering as a consequence of the ongoing wars. “FIFA is looking forward to all teams participating at the FIFA World Cup to compete in a spirit of fair play and mutual respect. We have a schedule. We will soon have the 48 competing teams confirmed, and we want the FIFA World Cup to go ahead as scheduled.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/enq2_9_u

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings go live with real-time updates during men’s and women’s national team matches 🙌 The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings will now be updated live in an exciting and innovative change that will mean fans can see where their country ranks as goals are scored in matches around the world. Following their introduction in 1992, the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Rankings have traditionally been published after the final games of an international window. However, they will now be provisionally updated in real time as games are played across the world by national teams this month. The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings, which were introduced in 2003, will see live updates debut during the April international window. The live ranking will be provisional and not made official until all matches in the international window have been played. Once that period has been completed, the official rankings will be confirmed on inside.fifa.com. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e6QKPFKD