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UEFA and Concacaf Call for $2.1 Billion FIFA Payout
Confirmed
In Short: UEFA and Concacaf have urged FIFA to distribute $2.1 billion to its 211 member associations, intensifying the dispute over FIFA's controversial Forward Enterprise proposal.
UEFA and Concacaf have called on FIFA to release at least $10 million to each of its 211 member associations from its accumulated cash reserves, intensifying the dispute over FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal.
In a letter addressed to Infantino and signed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, the two confederations argued that FIFA has sufficient financial resources to make a significant one-off distribution to national associations.
According to the letter, FIFA is expected to close the 2023–26 financial cycle with reserves of around $6 billion, which UEFA and Concacaf believe is considerably more than the organization needs to operate through to the 2030 men’s World Cup.
The two presidents also argued that FIFA’s reserves ultimately belong to football and should be considered for distribution when they exceed the organization’s foreseeable financial requirements. They are proposing that at least $10 million be made available to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations during the 2027–30 cycle.
The proposed distribution would cost FIFA approximately $2.11 billion and would be separate from the organization’s regular funding programs. UEFA and Concacaf say the money should be directed towards infrastructure projects and football development.
What's confirmed
- UEFA and Concacaf have called on FIFA to release at least $10 million to each of its 211 member associations from its accumulated cash reserves, intensifying the dispute over FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal.
- In a letter addressed to Infantino and signed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, the two confederations argued that FIFA has sufficient financial resources to make a significant one-off distribution to national associations.
- According to the letter, FIFA is expected to close the 2023–26 financial cycle with reserves of around $6 billion, which UEFA and Concacaf believe is considerably more than the organization needs to operate through to the 2030 men’s World Cup.
- The two presidents also argued that FIFA’s reserves ultimately belong to football and should be considered for distribution when they exceed the organization’s foreseeable financial requirements. They are proposing that at least $10 million be made available to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations during the 2027–30 cycle.
- The proposed distribution would cost FIFA approximately $2.11 billion and would be separate from the organization’s regular funding programs. UEFA and Concacaf say the money should be directed towards infrastructure projects and football development.
What's still developing
- Their letter called for an independent review of FIFA’s finances, with access to the underlying figures and assumptions used to determine the organisation’s financial position.
- The dispute comes at a significant time for Infantino, who is seeking a fourth term as FIFA president at the election in March.
- The call comes after widespread opposition forced FIFA to abandon its Fifa Forward Enterprise plan just four days after it was unveiled.
- The proposal involved the creation of a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights for FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with 21% of the company potentially being sold to an investment group.
- Ceferin and Montagliani said their analysis of FIFA’s published financial statements and budgets raised questions about whether such a transaction had been necessary.
- They said FIFA was on course to end the 2023-26 cycle with reserves of about $6bn, which they described as the largest in its history, and argued that the governing body already had the capacity to distribute substantially more money to its national associations from its own balance sheet.
- Ceferin and Montagliani said that even after such a distribution, FIFA’s reserves would not fall below about $1.5bn at any point during the next cycle, about 50 percent above what they said was the minimum reserve level FIFA itself had budgeted for 2023-26.
- They, therefore, called for an independent review with full access to the underlying figures and assumptions before recommendations are submitted through FIFA’s governance process.