The FIFA Council held its first meeting of the year today, in Bogotá, Colombia, where it discussed a number of milestone initiatives related to the future of international football competitions.

FIFA’s supervisory and strategic body approved the adoption of the most recent changes to the Laws of the Game at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as well as the detailed voting procedure that the 68th FIFA Congress will follow when deciding on the designation of the host(s) of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Furthermore, the FIFA Council endorsed the organisation’s annual reports for 2017 – which, among other things, show a result of USD 300 million over budget for the year and the forecast of a positive result in excess of USD 100 million to be achieved for the 2015-2018 cycle. The reports are thus ready to be submitted to the 68th FIFA Congress for ratification.

Here is a summary of the key decisions taken by the FIFA Council during its sixth meeting, this Friday:

The FIFA Council voted in favour of amending the Regulations of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia so that the tournament adopts the following changes to the Laws of the Game approved by The International Football Association Board (IFAB) during its 132nd Annual General Meeting: use of video assistant referees (VARs) in all matches. More information on FIFA.com/VAR. one additional substitute per team in matches that go into extra time permission to communicate information and transmit data to the technical area for coaching purposes

so that the tournament adopts the following changes to the Laws of the Game approved by The International Football Association Board (IFAB) during its 132nd Annual General Meeting: Approval of the Voting Procedure for the Designation of the Host Country of the 2026 FIFA World Cup – a document that outlines the details of how the 68th FIFA Congress will vote on the matter. More information on the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is available in this comprehensive guide.

The FIFA Council was presented with and voted in favour of FIFA’s annual reports for 2017 – i.e. the Activity Report, the Financial Report and the Governance Report, which are now available for download. The set of reports is now due to be submitted for ratification to the 68th FIFA Congress, in Moscow on 13 June.

FIFA’s strategic body agreed, in principle, that there was a crucial need to support women’s football and to strengthen the existing scenario of international women’s competitions . However, further to the consultation phase that led to the proposal of a FIFA Women’s World League by the FIFA administration, the FIFA Council decided that the matter required further examination and should be revisited in the body’s upcoming meetings.

After discussing the pros and cons of adopting a different strategy for the future of international youth competitions , the FIFA Council decided to stick to the existing structure of biennial U-17 and U-20 tournaments for both men and women.

Regarding the tournaments scheduled for 2019, the FIFA Council designated Poland as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and Peru of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Following months of consultation, both within FIFA’s relevant committees and between FIFA and the game’s key stakeholders, the FIFA Council agreed upon the exact wording of important amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

The next FIFA Council meeting is scheduled for 10 June 2018, in Moscow, shortly before the 68th FIFA Congress and the kick-off of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The eighth FIFA Council meeting is set to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 25 to 26 October.

The FIFA Council also agreed on Paris as the venue for the 69th FIFA Congress, which is to take place on 6 June 2019, the eve of the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.