Sept. 28, 2026, 5:39 p.m. ET
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has instructed the leaders of Concacaf, UEFA and different confederations that he’s open to offering extra money from FIFA’s reserves to every of its 211 member associations.
Concacaf President Victor Montagliani and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin had proposed FIFA distribute extra of the $6 billion they imagine the group has in its reserves to its member associations. Their plan, they wrote, would result in $10 million extra for every member affiliation within the 2027-2030 cycle.
That letter was adopted by separate letters of assist from Asian Soccer Confederation president Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and Oceania Soccer Confederation president Lambert Maltock.
Now, Infantino says, he’s in favor of elements of the proposal being taken to the FIFA Council at its October assembly.
“I welcome the constructive intent mirrored in every of your letters. We could differ on the very best route ahead, however I’ve little doubt that every of us desires what’s greatest for FIFA, its Member Associations and soccer,” Infantino mentioned within the letter, which was seen by USA TODAY Sports activities.
“Belief isn’t the absence of disagreement,” he continued. “It’s demonstrated once we have interaction straight, check proposals towards the info and respect choices correctly reached via FIFA’s democratic and institutional processes – even when the end result differs from the one we most popular.”
Infantino has led soccer’s governing physique since February 2016 and plans to run for re-election in March 2027. He was broadly anticipated to simply win however angered many stakeholders with a plan to ask personal funding to take stakes within the World Cup and different FIFA tournaments.
The FIFA president addressed that proposal within the letter as nicely, saying the plan shared the identical targets because the initiatives the confederation presidents at the moment are advancing.
“The current industrial proposal, now withdrawn, was meant to allow FIFA to speculate extra in soccer – to not substitute assist that might responsibly be supplied from present assets,” the letter reads. “So, it might even have been on prime of it. Exactly as a result of all the things FIFA does and generates is for the advantage of its Member Associations.”
Within the letter, Infantino asks the confederation presidents to consolidate their concepts and ship Mattias Grafström, FIFA’s Secretary Basic, data so the FIFA Council is ready to obtain a advice on how a lot every member affiliation ought to obtain, how a lot cash FIFA ought to maintain in its reserves and what regulatory measures must be in place going ahead.
Any adjustments would must be accredited by the FIFA Council, which is about to fulfill Oct. 15 in Switzerland. The confederation presidents all sit on the FIFA Council, as do 29 different members, principally the presidents of member associations.
Infantino is but to attract a challenger for the FIFA presidency. The deadline for a candidate to declare and are available ahead with backing from at the least 5 member associations is Nov. 18.
