Two continental football federations, UEFA and CONCACAF, appealed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Friday to release approximately $2.1 billion from the global governing body's reserves for distribution among its 211 member associations.
The letter, addressed to Infantino by European football chief Aleksander Čeferin and his colleague from the North American and Caribbean body Victor Montaliani, asserted that each FIFA member association should receive $10 million over a four-year period from 2027 to 2030.
This move is the latest development in the civil war within world football, which began after it was revealed that Infantino was attempting to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.
This explosive initiative was quickly halted due to strong negative reaction in sports, as the European governing body UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions until the plan was canceled.
Infantino had previously stated that the venture was intended to attract capital for football worldwide. However, the letter from Čeferin and Montaliani, obtained by AFP, indicated that FIFA's extensive financial reserves, estimated at around $6 billion, could be used to increase sports funding without external investment.
The letter stated: 'FIFA already has the potential to provide its Member Associations with significantly more funds from its own balance sheet—without any sale of interests in its competitions and without any requirements from the MAs in return.' It further specified: 'Our analysis shows that FIFA should make at least $10 million available for each of its 211 MAs during the 2027–30 cycle for infrastructure and football development investments—which amounts to a total sum of approximately $2.1 billion.'
The letter also noted that this one-time release of funds would be in addition to the annual development funding already distributed to FIFA members, which under Infantino has increased to $8 million per country over the four-year cycle.
UEFA and CONCACAF announced that they would present distribution recommendations at the next FIFA Council meeting. The letter was sent one day after the Chair of the English Football Association, Debbie Hewitt, wrote to Infantino requesting full information regarding the failed private equity plan.
Hewitt also demanded the disclosure of documents related to the decision to suspend the ban imposed on US forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup, which followed a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Infantino.