FIFA president Gianni Infantino has opened the door to increased funding for all 211 member associations, with the FIFA Council expected to consider additional payments next month.
Infantino said he would support the highest level of additional funding that FIFA could responsibly provide, although he stressed that no amount has yet been approved.
In a letter to the presidents of FIFA’s six continental confederations, Infantino said the organisation would first need to assess its financial position before any decision is made.
The FIFA Council is expected to receive preliminary recommendations at its October 15 meeting, with FIFA currently reviewing how much additional funding could be distributed during the 2027-30 cycle.
The proposal comes after UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani called for FIFA’s 211 member associations to receive at least $10 million each during the next four-year cycle.
That would amount to $2.1 billion in total funding. UEFA and CONCACAF have argued that FIFA’s projected reserves give the governing body enough financial room to make the payments while maintaining a substantial financial cushion.
Infantino said he would back the greatest level of funding that could be delivered through FIFA’s established governance process. “The recent commercial proposal, now withdrawn, was intended to enable FIFA to invest more in football,” he wrote.
The proposal would have created a FIFA-owned commercial subsidiary and allowed outside investors to provide up to $4.2 billion in exchange for a minority stake. FIFA had said the plan could have increased Forward funding from $8 million per member association in the 2023-26 cycle to $20 million for 2027-30.
However, the plan faced strong opposition from several confederations, including UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation, amid concerns over consultation and FIFA’s governance processes.
UEFA has also asked a US federal court to allow it to obtain documents and testimony from FIFA’s American entities as part of a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland concerning the abandoned FFE proposal.
FIFA has rejected UEFA’s allegations and accused European football’s governing body of running a “misinformation campaign” against Infantino.
In its response to the US court filing, FIFA said UEFA had made “false or misleading statements” and rejected suggestions that Infantino had sought to personally profit from the FFE proposal.
🚨🚨FIFA has accused European football chiefs of “harassment” against Gianni Infantino and claims they are trying to influence the FIFA presidential election by spreading “misinformation” over his controversial World Cup venture.
The explosive allegations were made in a U.S.… pic.twitter.com/aMtHtAm6qt
— Speedline (@speedlne) September 29, 2026
FIFA also disputed UEFA’s assessment of the proposed deal’s valuation, arguing that UEFA had confused the equity value of FFE with its enterprise value. According to FIFA, the proposed enterprise had an equity valuation of $20 billion but an enterprise value of more than $30 billion.
The dispute comes at a sensitive time for Infantino, who is seeking another term as FIFA president at the election scheduled for March 2027. FIFA has argued that UEFA’s legal action is an attempt to influence that election, while UEFA has continued to push for greater transparency and changes to FIFA’s governance.
