UEFA, CONCACAF seek $10m FIFA payout to every member association

UEFA and Concacaf have asked FIFA to give each member association at least $10 million from its reserves. The demand intensifies scrutiny of Gianni Infantino after the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan was withdrawn.

In Short

• The confederations said FIFA could finish 2023-26 with reserves near $6 billion
• They proposed the money be spent on infrastructure and football development
• The one-off distribution would cost about $2.11 billion beyond regular funding

UEFA and Concacaf have called on FIFA to distribute at least 10 million USD to each of its 211 member associations from its cash reserves. The demand is the latest escalation in the fallout over Gianni Infantino’s now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.

The letter was signed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani. They argued that FIFA is expected to end the 2023-26 cycle with reserves of around $6 billion, which they believe is considerably more than the organisation needs through the 2030 men’s World Cup.

“FIFA currently holds billions of dollars in accumulated reserves,” the letter read. “These resources belong to football and exist to serve the game and its 211 member associations.”

Ceferin and Montagliani called for at least 10 million USD to be made available to every member association during the 2027-30 cycle. They said the money should be directed towards infrastructure and football development.

The proposed one-off distribution would cost FIFA around 2.11 billion USD and would come on top of its regular funding for member associations.

The demand follows strong opposition to Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which was scrapped just four days after being unveiled. The proposal involved creating a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with a 21 percent stake potentially being sold to an investment company.

UEFA, CONCACAF QUESTION FIFA PLAN

Infantino had told FIFA members they could receive 40 million USD if they backed the proposal, with federations given a September 19 deadline to accept the plans in order to access an initial 20 million USD.

However, UEFA and Concacaf said their analysis of FIFA’s published financial statements and budgets raised questions over whether the new structure was actually required to increase funding.

The two confederations said their assessment was “deliberately conservative” and called for an independent review of FIFA’s finances, with access to the underlying figures and assumptions.

“Development is an institutional responsibility of Fifa, not a matter of individual discretion,” they wrote.

PRESSURE BUILDS ON INFANTINO

The letter was also sent to the presidents of FIFA’s other confederations, asking them to support the proposed distribution from reserves.

The development comes a day after Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt wrote to Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom demanding the release of documents linked to the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan.

Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, also called for a written explanation over the cancelled suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.

Infantino has been asked to make the relevant documents available before the next FIFA Council meeting on October 15. He is also set to stand for a fourth term as FIFA president in March, with potential challengers having until November 18 to put forward an alternative candidate.

- Ends