FIFA proposes to give each national federation $25 million as part of a plan to develop football

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is preparing to present an unprecedented financial proposal to distribute more than $6 billion to national and continental federations during the financial cycle extending from 2027 to 2030, in a step that would double the allocations that were previously allocated to develop football around the world, months before the presidential elections during which Gianni Infantino is seeking to retain his position.

According to “The Athletic,” the proposal expected to be presented to the FIFA Council on Thursday includes raising the financial allocations for each national federation to $25 million over four years, an increase of $15 million from the previously planned amount of $10 million, in addition to allocating $99 million to each of the six continental federations during the same period.

The plan is based on the unprecedented commercial success achieved by the 2026 World Cup, with the participation of 48 teams, which was hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, after the tournament’s revenues reached about $15 billion, exceeding initial expectations of $11 billion, which were later raised to $13 billion.

In order to finance this huge increase, FIFA intends to withdraw more than $3.5 billion from its financial reserves, while maintaining a cash reserve of $1.7 billion, according to a source familiar with the details of the proposal, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he does not have permission to speak publicly.

The proposal represents a major shift in the amount of funding that national federations have received since Infantino’s arrival to the presidency of FIFA in 2016, as the allocations for each federation amounted to one million dollars, before it gradually increased, reaching $25 million in the next session, if the new plan was adopted.

These moves come after a letter sent by Infantino last September to the presidents of the six continental federations, during which he opened the door to increasing the funds distributed to the member federations, at a time when he was facing mounting pressure against the backdrop of an investment project that sparked a crisis within the international institution.

The “FIFA Forward Enterprise” project, which was later abandoned, was to provide a 20 percent stake in the international federation’s commercial operations and event organization to private investors, which raised widespread objections within international football circles and placed Infantino under intense scrutiny.

The repercussions of the crisis reached the point that the President of the European Football Association, Alexander Ceferin, and the President of the North, Central American and Caribbean Federation, Victor Montagliani, called on Infantino to resign, in a position that reflects the extent of the division that the project caused among football leaders.

The President of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, also adopted a position in support of Infantino stepping down, before signs emerged of him retreating from his previous extremism, including abandoning his demand that an independent body review the governance system within FIFA.

On the other hand, Ceferin and Montagliani had sent letters to Infantino asking him to release part of the International Federation’s financial reserves and distribute them to the national federations, an approach that intersects with the content of the new financial proposal.

On Thursday, the FIFA Council is scheduled to discuss the plan to increase funding in its first meeting since the crisis of the canceled investment project. If it is initially approved, it will be subject to a consultation process before it can be approved by the Council next December.

The plan will then need final approval from the FIFA Congress, which is scheduled to be held next March, before the new allocations enter into force during the 2027-2030 financial cycle.

On the electoral level, neither Ceferin nor Montagliani translated their demand for Infantino’s resignation into direct competition for the presidency of the International Federation, as they both decided to remain in their continental positions, without presenting an alternative candidate to run in the upcoming elections.

Thus, Infantino is heading to run in the presidential race without a competitor for the third time in a row, unless another candidate comes forward before the nomination period closes on November 18, at a time when electoral preparations overlap with one of the largest redistribution of financial resources in the history of the International Federation.