FIFA has agreed to pay nearly 4 million dollars to rent space in Trump Tower in New York, for premises that have remained mostly unoccupied, according to documents obtained by Le Monde. The French newspaper reports that the organisation committed a total of around 3.57 million dollars over a term of seven years and seven months for 450 square metres on the 17th floor of the building, where FIFA set up an office on 1 June 2025.
The lease was signed in May 2025 by four members of the board of directors, with the signature of FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström appearing first. The tenant is FIFA Americas Incorporation, a FIFA subsidiary legally based in the state of Delaware, while the counterparty is Trump Tower Commercial LLC, chaired by Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, who owns and manages the building.
Le Monde reports that FIFA did not visit other locations or compare offers from other companies before settling on Trump Tower, in contrast to the process it had followed in Miami. In light of the arrangement, several members of FIFA’s administration internally raised concerns about the lease, pointing to a possible conflict of interest and to the fact that the usual procedure had not been followed.
On the financial terms, the French outlet calculates that FIFA pays the company linked to the US president an average of around 470,000 dollars a year, or 41,000 dollars a month — which it describes as market rates for offices of that size on New York’s Fifth Avenue. The contract includes a fixed annual increase of 2 per cent as a transfer of operating expenses. A clause at the start of the term resembles a discount, reducing the fixed rent by 19,000 dollars per month during each of the first eight full months following the effective date, but the amount is higher by the end of the contract: 533,000 dollars for the final seven months, against 455,000 dollars in the second year.
Responding to Le Monde’s inquiry, FIFA said: “FIFA pays market-rate rent for these premises and complies with all local legislation.”
The lease sits within a broader relationship between the two men that goes well beyond the ties they forged during the organisation of the last World Cup, or the Peace Prize that world football’s governing body awarded to Trump himself.