The power struggle between FIFA and UEFA is entering the next round. The European continental association, together with CONCACAF, is now demanding a sum running into the billions from the world governing body.
The power struggle between FIFA and UEFA has been smouldering for months, with UEFA up in arms ever since FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s investment plans came to light. Now, the pressure from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and its ally, the CONCACAF confederation, is being ramped up once again.
The Europeans, along with the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean, are issuing an ultimatum to FIFA to pay out a sum running into the billions to its 211 member associations. According to this, following the successful World Cup, each FIFA member association is to receive a further ten million dollars (8.72 million euros) from the association’s significantly increased reserves.
This “one-off payout” is within FIFA’s means, as UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani stated in a letter addressed to FIFA President Infantino. The letter in question is also in the possession of *kicker*.
It states that it has been established that, following the World Cup, FIFA is well on the way to having reserves amounting to six billion US dollars (5.23 billion euros). This sum far exceeds what is required “to see FIFA through the deficit-ridden years following a World Cup”.
It is therefore concluded that FIFA can afford to pay at least 10 million US dollars (8.72 million euros) to each of its 211 member associations; the total sum would thus amount to 2.1 billion US dollars (1.83 billion euros).
FIFA would remain financially stable
“Even after such a distribution, FIFA’s reserves would not fall below approximately 1.5 billion US dollars at any point during the next cycle – that is around 50 per cent more than the minimum reserves FIFA itself has estimated for the period 2023–2026.”
Most recently, Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the world governing body’s tournaments to private investors, including those with links to US President Donald Trump, had failed. In this context, the Swiss official had also promised the associations more money. However, this can be achieved without private investors, as UEFA and CONCACAF now point out.
Whilst they emphasised the need for “FIFA to, of course, remain financially strong” so that it can “meet its existing obligations” and should therefore also “maintain an appropriate financial reserve”, they added that “all of this is fully taken into account in our analysis. At present, however, FIFA has accumulated reserves running into the billions. These funds belong to football and serve the sport as well as its 211 member associations. Caution should not prevent us from carefully examining whether a portion of these funds could be released responsibly, insofar as these reserves exceed FIFA’s foreseeable needs.”
And this would not require any funds from private investors. “FIFA, however, already has the means to provide its member associations with significantly more funds from its own balance sheet – entirely without selling shares in its competitions and without demanding anything in return from the member associations.”
Will there be a rival candidate?
This new demand is certainly also intended to increase the pressure on Infantino. He intends to stand for re-election at the FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco, on 18 March next year, but UEFA in particular is calling for his resignation – and is also preparing to file a criminal complaint against him in Switzerland. The 56-year-old, however, has no intention of stepping down, so it could well come down to a close vote in March.
Should Infantino stand for election, UEFA will almost certainly field a rival candidate. It is not yet clear who this will be, but there are indications that the Canadian Montagliani could throw his hat into the ring. The deadline for nominating a candidate is 18 November.
