The presidents of Uefa and Concacaf have written to Gianni Infantino requesting that Fifa release money from its $6bn (£4.5bn) reserves to its member associations, stating that the plan to fund them via the doomed Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme was unnecessary given the cash pile it is sitting on. Aleksander Ceferin and Victor Montagliani proposed a payout of at least $10m to each of Fifa’s 211 member associations (MAs), initially as a one-off during the 2027-2030 commercial cycle. They called for an independent review of Fifa’s financial position and said their own study “raises an important question as to whether the proposed transaction was necessary to deliver greater resources to the MAs”.
The proposed $10m would be handed out on top of money committed by Fifa’s existing Fifa Forward programme, which paid each MA about $8m over the previous four-year cycle. In a separate letter to the presidents of the Asian Football Confederation, the Confederation of African Football, Conmebol (the South American federation) and Oceania, Ceferin and Montagliani asked their counterparts to support the motion. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the AFC president, is expected to send an endorsement of their plan.
The leaders intend their proposal to be considered at the next 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. The letter to Infantino 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.” It points out Fifa’s reserves would not dip below $1.5bn even after that scale of distribution, and says a larger handout could be possible “once a clearer picture of Fifa’s financial position at year-end is available”.
Ceferin and Montagliani said 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 proceeded to point out that releasing part of Fifa’s reserves 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.” While Fifa Forward Enterprise had promised member associations about $40m, half of that sum was an optional $20m payment for those signing up to his plan.
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.
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