WC's commercial power helped FIFA earn record revenue of two bln dollars in 2014

Thanks to the football World Cup's commercial power, FIFA earned a record revenue of two billion dollars last year, the sport's governing body has revealed.

FIFA's annual financial report released in Zurich on Friday revealed total profits of 337 million dollars coming from the four-year cycle for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. They pocketed 104.7 million dollars in profit in 2014 alone.

It has added 91 million dollars to its reserves, which now stand at 1.523 billion dollars, Stuff.co.nz reported.

The football world governing body expects income to keep rising for the 2018 World Cup in Russia despite FIFA and the host country's reputation issues.

FIFA's expenses also soared, topping 5.38 billion dollars in the past four years. Last year, the governing body spent 261 million dollars in World Cup bonuses to football bodies, 27 million dollars buying a hotel in Zurich and 39.7 million dollars rewarding senior officials, the report added.