Uefa and Concacaf ask Infantino to distribute FIFA’s reserve funds to member associations
On 18 September 2026 Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino requesting that FIFA release money from its $6bn (£4.5bn) reserves to member associations, proposing a one-off payout of at least $10m to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations and pressing for the proposal to be considered ahead of the FIFA Council meeting on 15 October.
Ceferin and Montagliani argued the planned FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme was unnecessary given FIFA’s cash position and asked for an independent review of FIFA’s financial position. Their study, they wrote, “raises an important question as to whether the proposed transaction was necessary to deliver greater resources to the MAs”. The pair proposed the $10m payment for each association as an initial one-off during the 2027-2030 commercial cycle and said it would be additional to existing commitments.
The letter states: “Our analysis indicates that Fifa should make at least $10million available to each of its 211 MAs over the 2027-30 cycle for investment in infrastructure and football development – an aggregate of approximately $2.1billion. This would be a one-off release of reserves, over and above the approved Fifa Forward Programme, which would continue in full as already committed.” The document noted the existing Fifa Forward programme had paid each MA about $8m over the previous four-year cycle.
Ceferin and Montagliani pointed out that FIFA Forward Enterprise had promised member associations about $40m, adding that half of that sum was an optional $20m payment for those signing up to the plan. They said releasing part of FIFA’s reserves would not require any sale of interests in FIFA competitions or any contribution from the MAs.
The two confederation presidents wrote that FIFA “already has the capacity to deliver substantially more to its MAs from its own balance sheet – without any sale of interests in its competitions, and without asking anything of the MAs in return”. They also argued that a reserve distribution would “demonstrate that MAs should not have to choose between development and good governance; between investment and integrity; or between financial support and the ability to consider proposals on their merits. Development is an institutional responsibility of Fifa – not a matter of individual discretion.”
Ceferin and Montagliani said FIFA’s reserves would not fall below $1.5bn even after the proposed distribution and added that a larger handout could be possible “once a clearer picture of Fifa’s financial position at year-end is available”. In a separate letter they asked the presidents of the Asian Football Confederation, the Confederation of African Football, Conmebol and Oceania to support the motion, and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the AFC president, is expected to send an endorsement.
The leaders intend their proposal to be considered at the FIFA Council meeting on 15 October, where Infantino is due to face FIFA’s nominal decision-making body for the first time since scandal engulfed his reign; Infantino remains under pressure to resign but looks certain to run for re-election in March. It remains to be seen whether he will face an opponent, and FIFA was approached for comment.