Čeferin and Montagliani propose $10m payments from FIFA reserves

THE REPORTED PROPOSAL

The Associated Press reported on 18 September that UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani had written to FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposing a one-off payment of $10 million to each of FIFA's 211 member associations.

According to AP's account of the letter, the authors say FIFA should hold $6 billion in reserves after the 2026 World Cup and could afford a total release of $2.1 billion. InFIFAntiNo has not reviewed the letter itself. Those figures and the assessment of available financial room remain claims attributed to the letter's authors through AP, not independently audited findings.

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ANALYSIS BEFORE ANY DECISION

AP reports that Čeferin and Montagliani requested a full, independent analysis of FIFA's finances before the FIFA Council meeting scheduled for 15 October, so that the amount that could responsibly be distributed could be assessed. AP also reports that they planned to ask the other four confederation presidents to support the motion.

The reported letter is a proposal. The sources reviewed do not establish Council approval, a decision by FIFA's member associations, an allocated payment or money transferred to any federation. They also do not establish support from the other confederation presidents.

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FFE BACKGROUND AND FIFA'S EARLIER POSITION

The proposal follows the withdrawal of FIFA Forward Enterprise, which had included a separate offer of increased development funding. AP reports that the new letter says the $20 million already promised to each member association through 2030 would continue in full. An earlier joint letter from AFC, Concacaf and UEFA had called for responsible distribution of FIFA's reserves to strengthen investment in member-association development.

FIFA said on 5 August that it would work with stakeholders on ways to support development through FIFA Forward after FFE was withdrawn. InFIFAntiNo did not identify a newer FIFA response to the reported 18 September letter in the official FIFA and UEFA materials checked that day. That search result is not evidence that no response exists.

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ADDITIONAL REPORTING CHECKED ON 22 SEPTEMBER

Reuters also reports having seen the letter. Its account describes the authors' financial calculations as preliminary and dependent on estimates and assumptions, with an additional payment proposed for 2027–30. This strengthens corroboration of the request, not the financial conclusions. No approval or transfer is established.

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