FIFA has built up the reserves - which the body says is insurance money - since 2003 from World Cup television and marketing rights, according to Bloomberg.
Liberia’s 1995 world player of the year George Weah and Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who played at three World Cups, both said in interviews that the money should be used to help build stadiums or send teams to international tournaments.
“If FIFA has $1 billion in the bank, then help the smaller countries such as Rwanda, Chad and Uganda. Some countries don’t have the possibility to develop football,” said Milla.
Weah added that football in Liberia is “dead” and clubs don’t have enough money to prosper, however developing a successful domestic league would help the national team and lift morale in the country. Liberia failed to win any of its 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
FIFA’s reserves rose 40 per cent in 2008 after it sold television and marketing rights to companies including Coca-Cola, Sony and Visa for $3.4 billion, 30 per cent more than for the 2006 edition.
