Infantino ready to boost funding for all 211 FIFA members

• FIFA President Gianni Infantino signaled openness to unlocking parts of FIFA's $6 billion reserves under pressure from UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC.
• UEFA, Concacaf, and AFC leaders called for an additional $10 million payout per member association for 2027–2030.
• FIFA will review consolidated funding proposals at its upcoming Council meeting on October 15.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is poised to bow to demands from UEFA and Concacaf to allocate additional funding to member associations from FIFA's $6 billion cash reserves, according to a letter sent to governing officials on Monday.

Writing to all six continental confederation presidents and copying members of the FIFA Council, Infantino expressed willingness to support "the greatest level of additional funding," though he stopped short of explicitly endorsing the $10 million-per-member figure put forward by confederation leaders.

The response follows a joint letter sent earlier this month by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, who demanded an additional distribution of at least $10 million for each of FIFA's 211 member associations during the 2027–2030 commercial cycle.

The proposal subsequently received formal backing in a separate letter from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

Proposals ahead of Council vote

Infantino noted in his letter that all submissions will undergo formal evaluation during the next FIFA Council meeting scheduled for October 15, 2026, following consolidation by Secretary General Mattias Grafström.

Under the terms of Infantino's now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, member associations would have received an additional $20 million over the upcoming four-year cycle, plus a further $20 million payment had they committed prior to a 53-day deadline that expired last week.

"I will not prejudge the amount," Infantino wrote in Monday's letter. "I will support the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered through Fifa’s proper governance process, applied fairly and supported by transparent and auditable arrangements. The ambition is welcome. The financial evidence, governance and implementation must now support it."

"A single figure can begin the discussion, but it cannot complete a global policy," Infantino added. "I have therefore instructed the Secretary General to consolidate all submissions into one integrated assessment for consideration by the Fifa council on 15 October 2026."

Withdrawn FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative

Infantino also utilized the correspondence to defend his strategy surrounding the FFE scheme, insisting the initiative was designed to expand total investment across the sport rather than substitute existing structural support.

"The recent commercial proposal, now withdrawn, was intended to enable Fifa to invest more in football, not to replace support that could responsibly be provided from existing resources," Infantino wrote.