FIFA to offer members US$6.35 billion development fund windfall

PARIS - Football’s world governing body FIFA is planning to set up a US$6.35-billion (S$8 billion) development fund for the next four years, AFP learned on Oct 14 from a source close to the matter.

The plan is due to be approved at its Council meeting on Oct 15 in Zurich, where FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the 36 other members of the federation’s executive will gather.

To finance this development fund for the 2026–2030 period, which would allow money to be distributed to FIFA’s 211 federations as well as to the regional confederations, it would draw in part on its financial reserves after a commercially successful 2026 World Cup.

The plan, first revealed by the Associated Press, would allow for the payment of US$25 million to each of its 211 member federations.

This is far more than the US$10 million called for by two of Infantino’s chief critics, Aleksander Ceferin, the boss of the European confederation UEFA, and Victor Montagliani, the head of CONCACAF, the confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The gathering on Oct 15 is the first such meeting since April 28, and comes amid a crisis in the governance of world football, following Infantino’s announcement this summer of his desire to open FIFA’s premium competitions such as the World Cup to private investors.

That plan was ultimately abandoned in the face of widespread criticism from the football world, with a rebellion led by UEFA, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

At the end of September, Infantino launched a consultation process with the federations to reform how the global body operates, announcing that the first proposals could be examined as early as the Oct 15 Council meeting.

The 56-year-old, who has headed FIFA since 2016, is running for re-election in March 2027.

His opponents have so far failed to agree on a candidate.

Ceferin has chosen to stand for a new term at the helm of UEFA and, according to several media outlets, Montagliani is expected to do the same at CONCACAF.