Fifa: Infantino opens the reserves to the federations, without committing to a figure

On Monday 28 September, Gianni Infantino wrote to the presidents of the six confederations: Fifa’s reserves, around $6bn, can fund the 211 member associations better than they do today. Aleksander Ceferin (Uefa) and Victor Montagliani (Concacaf) have asked since early September for at least $10m per federation across the 2027-2030 cycle, a demand since backed by the AFC president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa. That comes to some $2.1bn in total, more than a third of the reserves. The letter, reported by The Guardian, opens the door and leaves the figure blank.

“I will not prejudge the amount… The ambition is welcome”, Infantino writes, adding that “the financial evidence, governance and implementation must now support it” and that “a single figure can begin the discussion, but it cannot complete a global policy.” While the necessary assessments and approvals remain incomplete, no preliminary figure counts as an approved commitment towards the member associations. The file goes to the Fifa Council on 15 October, after consolidation by the general secretary, Mattias Grafström.

Fifa accuses Uefa of harassment before a Florida court

A day later, on 29 September, Fifa filed 26 pages with a federal court in the southern district of Florida to block Uefa’s request for documents, a 60-page filing tied to a criminal complaint lodged in Switzerland against Infantino for “disloyal management”, an offence that carries up to five years in prison. The request was made “in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment”, Fifa writes in the filing reported by The Guardian, which accuses Uefa of a “misinformation campaign”: “With no basis whatsoever, Uefa suggests that Mr Infantino sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal.” The numbers of the abandoned project show the stakes: according to Uefa, investors paid $4.2bn for a stake in an entity valued at around $20bn; Fifa replies that its equity was worth $20bn and its enterprise value more than $30bn: allegations from two parties in litigation, not audited figures.

One candidate, leagues demanding reform

This will be the first Council since the FIFA Forward Enterprise project (FFE) was dropped in July, after opposition from Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC. Infantino picked up calls for his resignation, and LaLiga, the Bundesliga, the Premier League and Serie A are demanding reform. He is, so far, the only candidate for the election on 18 March 2027; rival bids have until 18 November.

For the 211 member associations, everything plays out on 15 October: that day, Infantino’s ambition takes a number or stays a word.