FIFA is facing fresh pressure from two of its confederations after Uefa and Concacaf called for billions of dollars from its reserves to be distributed to football associations around the world.
Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani have written to FIFA president Gianni Infantino urging the governing body to make at least $10 million (£7.5m) available to each of its 211 member associations for the 2027-30 cycle.
The proposed distribution would cost FIFA approximately $2.11bn (£1.57bn) and would come on top of the organisation’s regular development funding.
The letter, seen by BBC Sport, argues that FIFA is expected to finish the 2023-26 financial cycle with reserves of around $6bn (£4.5bn). Uefa and Concacaf say this is considerably more than FIFA needs to cover its projected requirements through to the 2030 men’s World Cup.
They have therefore called for part of those reserves to be released for infrastructure projects and football development across member associations.
Pressure follows abandoned investment plan
The demand comes amid an ongoing dispute between FIFA and several continental governing bodies following the collapse of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative.
The plan would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights for FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. Around 21% of the company would have been sold to an investment firm.
However, the proposal was abandoned just four days after being announced following opposition from national football associations.
Under Infantino’s original proposal, member associations were told they could receive $40m (£30m) if they supported the plan. FIFA had set 19 September as the deadline for federations seeking access to an initial $20m (£15m).
Čeferin and Montagliani have questioned whether the FFE proposal was necessary, saying their analysis of FIFA’s published financial statements and budgets raised doubts about the need to generate additional resources through the scheme.
Call for independent financial review
The two confederation presidents have also called for an independent review of FIFA’s finances, with access to the underlying financial figures and assumptions used by the organisation.
Their letter argues that FIFA’s accumulated reserves belong to football and should ultimately support the development of the game across its 211 member associations.
They also suggested that the FIFA Council should consider releasing an even larger amount from the reserves once the organisation’s year-end financial position is known.
The proposed $10m payment to each association would be a one-off distribution, rather than a replacement for FIFA’s existing development programmes.
More pressure on Infantino
The latest intervention follows a separate letter from Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt, who called on Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström to release all documents relating to the abandoned FFE proposal.
Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, has additionally requested a written explanation from the FIFA Council regarding the cancellation of the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.
FIFA’s next Council meeting is scheduled for 15 October, with Hewitt calling for the requested documents to be made available before then.
Infantino is also preparing for another election battle. The 56-year-old is due to stand for a fourth term as FIFA president in March, while potential opponents have until 18 November to put forward an alternative candidate.
The dispute over FIFA’s reserves and the abandoned investment proposal now adds another layer to the growing debate over how football’s global governing body should manage and distribute its finances.
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