UEFA & CONCACAF demand FIFA pay $10m to all 211 members
UEFA and CONCACAF have called on FIFA to distribute at least $10 million (£7.5m) from its reserves to each of its 211 member associations.
The request marks the latest development in the dispute between the football governing bodies following FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s abandoned private equity proposal.
The proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) would have involved establishing a new company to oversee the commercial and ticketing rights for all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with a 21% stake to be sold to an investment firm.
The proposal was withdrawn after just four days amid strong opposition from national football associations.
A letter seen by BBC Sport and signed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani argues that FIFA is expected to end the 2023-26 financial cycle with reserves of around $6 billion (£4.5bn), an amount they say is significantly above what would be required until the 2030 men’s World Cup.
The two confederation chiefs are therefore urging FIFA to make at least $10 million available to each of its 211 member associations during the 2027-30 cycle, with the funds earmarked for football development and infrastructure.
The proposed one-time distribution would cost FIFA about $2.11 billion (£1.57bn) and would come on top of the organisation’s regular funding commitments for the cycle.
Following the unveiling of the FFE proposal after the last World Cup final, Infantino told member associations they could receive $40 million (£30m) if they supported the initiative.
FIFA subsequently set September 19 as the deadline for federations to endorse the proposal if they wished to qualify for an initial $20 million (£15m) allocation.
However, Ceferin and Montagliani said their review of FIFA’s published financial statements and budgets suggested that the FFE initiative was not necessary to increase funding for football.
They said their assessment had been deliberately conservative and argued that the FIFA Council should consider releasing a larger portion of the organisation’s reserves once its financial position at the end of the year is established.
The letter also called for an independent examination of FIFA’s finances, with investigators given full access to the underlying financial figures and assumptions.
The UEFA and Concacaf presidents argued that FIFA’s accumulated reserves belong to football and should ultimately serve the game and its 211 member associations.
They said a responsible release of some of those funds would allow member associations to invest in football development without having to compromise concerns over governance and integrity.
They further maintained that football development should be viewed as an institutional responsibility of FIFA rather than being dependent on individual decisions.
A separate letter has also been sent to the presidents of the other four confederations — AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC — seeking their backing for the proposal.
The development follows a letter from Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt to Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, in which she demanded the release of all documents connected to the FFE proposal.
Hewitt, who also serves as a FIFA vice-president, further called for the FIFA Council to receive a written explanation regarding the decision to cancel the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.
She has asked FIFA to make the requested documents available before the next FIFA Council meeting scheduled for October 15.
Infantino, 56, is expected to contest the FIFA presidency for a fourth term in March, while potential challengers have until November 18 to put forward an alternative candidate.
Source: BBC
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