FIFA president Gianni Infantino has ordered an assessment of proposals to distribute more money to national associations after UEFA and CONCACAF sought a $2.1 billion payout from FIFA’s reserves.
Infantino told the six continental confederation presidents in a letter seen by Reuters that the assessment will go before the FIFA Council on October 15. Any additional funding will require financial checks and formal approval.
“Until the assessment and necessary approvals are complete, no preliminary figure can be treated as an approved commitment to the Member Associations,” Infantino wrote.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani proposed on September 18 that each of FIFA’s 211 member associations receive at least $10 million during the 2027-30 cycle, on top of existing development funding.
They also called for an independent review of FIFA’s reserves, which they projected could reach about $6 billion by the end of 2026.
The confederations argued their proposed distribution would still leave FIFA with more than $1.5 billion in reserves throughout the following cycle. Their request came after FIFA abandoned its FIFA Forward Enterprise private-investment proposal in July following opposition from several confederations, including UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.
Infantino defended the withdrawn commercial plan, saying it would have created funding beyond what FIFA could responsibly distribute from its existing resources.
“The recent commercial proposal, now withdrawn, was intended to enable FIFA to invest more in football – not to replace support that could responsibly be provided from existing resources,” he wrote.
Infantino asked the confederations to provide their financial models, assumptions and supporting information to FIFA’s secretary general. Relevant FIFA committees will help verify the assumptions.
The FIFA Council will consider the amount and timing of any additional payments, the reserves required to protect FIFA’s obligations and financial independence, and the eligibility, reporting and audit conditions attached to any distribution.
Infantino said the review would also consider support for confederations facing demonstrable structural costs.
“I will not prejudge the amount,” he wrote. “I will support the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered through FIFA’s proper governance process, applied fairly and supported by transparent and auditable arrangements.”
