Gianni Infantino has indicated that a greater amount of money could be distributed to Fifa members from the governing body’s estimated £4.4bn cash reserves. In a letter sent to Fifa’s six continental confederations on Monday and seen by BBC Sport, the Fifa president said he would support “the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered”.
The letter follows mounting pressure over Infantino’s aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which proposed selling stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors and sparked a major backlash. Uefa and Concacaf, the confederations for Europe and North America, Central America and the Caribbean, have demanded that Fifa pay $10m (£7.5m) to all 211 members from its reserves. The proposal will be considered by the Fifa Council when it meets on 15 October.
Infantino did not commit to a specific sum. “I will not prejudge the amount,” he said in the letter. “A single figure can begin the discussion, but it cannot complete a global policy.”
He also issued his latest defence of the failed proposal to sell a slice of the World Cup’s commercial rights, which had brought calls for his resignation, again claiming it had been intended to generate additional money for the game. “The recent commercial proposal, now withdrawn, was intended to enable Fifa to invest more in football,” wrote the Swiss-Italian.
Earlier this month, Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt, a Fifa vice-president, told Infantino to release all documents relating to his controversial plan and called for an independent review of FFE. Infantino will stand for election for a fourth time in March 2027, with opponents having until 18 November to find an alternative candidate.