Infantino opens door to extra FIFA cash but holds back on $10m demand
Gianni Infantino has opened the door to extra money for every national association in world football, without agreeing to the $10m payment demanded by three continental chiefs.
The FIFA president wrote to the presidents of football's six confederations — the regional bodies that run the game continent by continent — on Monday, 28 September. The letter was copied to FIFA council members. In it, Infantino said he would support the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered, according to The Guardian.
That is not the same as saying yes. Europe's Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf's Victor Montagliani had joined forces earlier in September to call for at least $10m (£7.5m) for each of FIFA's 211 members during the next commercial cycle, the four-year run of World Cup broadcast and sponsorship income covering 2027 to 2030. Asia's Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backed the demand in a separate letter.
The numbers are large. FIFA holds $6bn (£4.5bn) in cash reserves. Paying $10m to 211 members would cost $2.11bn, a figure also reported by BBC Sport and France 24.
Infantino did not commit to that figure. He has asked FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström to pull the various submissions together into one integrated assessment for the FIFA council, world football's main decision-making board. The council will consider the funding proposals at its next meeting on 15 October.
The row follows the collapse of the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme, known as FFE. That plan would have given member associations an extra $20m (£15m) over the next four-year cycle if they signed up before a 53-day deadline. The deadline expired last week. Infantino said the withdrawn commercial proposal was meant to let FIFA invest more in football, not to replace support from existing resources.
There is history here. Infantino had proposed bringing private investors into World Cup revenues, a plan that drew public criticism from Concacaf and others in July. He has since proposed an independent external review of FIFA governance. Under current plans each member can expect $8m between 2027 and 2030. Wales, Serbia and Finland have all withdrawn backing for Infantino in recent weeks.
For fans, this means something simple. This is not about transfer fees or prize money. It is about the cash FIFA sends to national associations to pay for pitches, coaches, youth teams and women's programmes.
The decision now sits with the council. Infantino has signalled movement. The confederations want a fixed number. 15 October will tell us who blinks first.
