Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President, and Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF President, propose distributing at least $10 million to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations and subjecting the organisation’s finances to an independent review. The proposal comes from two men who are also FIFA vice-presidents and represents a challenge to Gianni Infantino, his backing of the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and his revenue-raising rhetoric.
The proposal would release around $2.1 billion from reserves, in addition to the commitments under the FFE programme, and comes from within the very leadership Infantino shares with them. In a letter sent to Infantino a few days ago, the two officials propose distributing the funds during the 2027–2030 cycle, earmarked for infrastructure and football development. Their approach takes the discussion beyond the money available and raises the issue of who decides when it is distributed and on what terms.
Reserves call the need for investors into question
Ceferin and Montagliani’s financial argument starts with an estimate: FIFA would end the 2023–2026 cycle with around $6 billion in reserves. According to their analysis, that position would allow increased funding for member associations without turning to external investors. The figure therefore calls into question the rationale behind the abandoned FFE, which proposed offering private investors a stake in the business surrounding its competitions to generate additional resources.
Although the proposal’s authors acknowledge that their calculations are preliminary and that this financial capacity needs to be verified, the move has a political dimension that emerges more clearly in one sentence from the letter: “Development is an institutional responsibility of FIFA, not a matter of individual discretion”. Ceferin and Montagliani argue that member associations should be able to assess the organisation’s proposals independently, without access to funding restricting that freedom. It is a pointed criticism of Infantino and his president-centred management model.
Elections in 2027
The UEFA and CONCACAF presidents have sought backing from their counterparts at the other four confederations to bring the initiative before the FIFA Council on 15 October. That step will be important in gauging the scale of the challenge, as the proposal needs further support.
The failure of FFE has not ended a debate that Ceferin and Montagliani continue to fuel, with Gianni Infantino firmly in their sights. The elections are in March, and a candidate whose identity has yet to be revealed is reportedly set to enter the presidential race. UEFA and CONCACAF, united in this battle, are hinting at their support for an alternative path.
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