President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the blank tax check that Mexico granted to the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the clubs it offers during the preparation and celebration of the 2026 World Cup. “It was something that we in our Government had not decided, it is a contract that already existed since 2015,” she commented during the presentation of the event, “we could not go back on those agreements and they were adjusted.” The World Cup will be held in June 2026 and its main venue will be the United States, with 78 matches, plus 13 matches in Canada and the same number in Mexico. Of the three countries, only Mexico has granted a comprehensive, nationwide exemption, as the tax agreements reached by the United States and Canada are not comprehensive and are made at the national, state, and local levels.
In the 2026 Federation Revenue Law, one of its transitional articles provides that companies that “participate in the organization, development and carrying out of activities related” to next year’s World Cup are exempt from paying taxes. This Monday, the Ministry of Finance also published a statement on this tax exemption.
“In relation to the tax and customs measures applicable to the organization of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, several working groups have been held with FIFA to limit the tax provisions applicable to those participating in the organization and celebration of the said sporting event,” the text begins, which then does not specify how these “tax provisions” have been limited.
The Treasury, like the president, emphasizes that the responsibility lies with the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), and emphasizes that the new Income Law establishes “agreed guarantees for the fulfillment of certain formal obligations of payment, transfer, withholding, collection, in accordance with the tax provisions in force only in 2026”.
The exemption stands out in a scenario where the government seeks to increase tax collection without initiating tax reform, as the country enters an economic slowdown and increases spending on social programs. In the case of the United States, each city and state negotiated on its own, highlighting the case of the city of Santa Clara, in the state of California, where six matches will be played, and which refused to subsidize FIFA taxes. In Canada, after the publication of the concessions of the cities of Vancouver and Toronto, the mayor of Toronto also criticized the leonine conditions of these agreements.
