UEFA and CONCACAF have urged FIFA to release at least $10 million to each of its 211 member associations from its accumulated reserves for the 2027–30 cycle.
According to BBC Sport, the presidents of UEFA and CONCACAF, Aleksander Čeferin and Victor Montagliani, made the request in a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, arguing that FIFA is in a strong enough financial position to make the one-off distribution.
The proposed payment would cost FIFA approximately $2.11 billion and would be separate from the organisation’s regular funding for the 2027–30 cycle.
The letter stated that FIFA was “on course to close 2023-26 with reserves of approximately $6bn,” adding that the amount was “considerably more than is required” through to the 2030 World Cup.
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Čeferin and Montagliani also questioned whether FIFA’s controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal was necessary to provide additional resources to national football associations.
The FFE proposal involved the creation of a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. Under the proposal, 21 per cent of the company would have been sold to an investment company.
However, the plan was withdrawn four days after its announcement following opposition from national associations.
“FIFA should make at least $10m available to each of its 211 member associations over the 2027-30 cycle,” the UEFA and CONCACAF presidents said, adding that the funds should be used for “investment in infrastructure and football development.”
They also called for an independent review of FIFA’s finances, saying the review should have “full access to the underlying figures and assumptions.”
“FIFA currently holds billions of dollars in accumulated reserves,” they wrote. “These resources belong to football and exist to serve the game and its 211 member associations.”
The two presidents further argued that FIFA’s financial reserves should be examined to determine whether a portion could be responsibly distributed.
“Prudence should not prevent a careful examination of whether a portion could responsibly be released to the extent those reserves exceed FIFA’s foreseeable needs,” they said.
They also maintained that development funding should be an institutional responsibility of FIFA rather than dependent on individual discretion.
“Development is an institutional responsibility of FIFA, not a matter of individual discretion,” they said.
The latest intervention comes amid a wider dispute over the FFE proposal and FIFA’s financial governance.
Čeferin and Montagliani have also written to the presidents of FIFA’s other four confederations — the Asian Football Confederation, Confederation of African Football, South American Football Confederation and Oceania Football Confederation — seeking their support for the proposed distribution.
The development follows a separate letter from Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt to Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström, in which she demanded the release of documents relating to the FFE proposal.
Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, also called for the FIFA Council to receive a written explanation concerning the cancellation of the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup.
FIFA’s next Council meeting is scheduled for October 15.
Infantino is seeking a fourth term as FIFA president at the election in March, while potential challengers have until November 18 to nominate an alternative candidate.
