FIFA is expected to propose distributing more than $6billion to football development between 2027 and 2030, more than twice the amount previously allocated for the four-year period.
Under the plan, each member association would receive $25m, an increase of $15m on the planned $10m payment. Each of FIFA’s six football confederations would also be given $99m during the cycle.
More than $3.5bn would be taken from FIFA’s financial reserves to fund the proposals, according to a source briefed on the plans. The source spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to discuss them publicly.
The proposed increase follows a letter sent by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to the presidents of the six confederations in September, in which he raised the possibility of providing additional funding to member associations.
If approved, the payments would have risen from $1m to $25m since Infantino became FIFA president in 2016.
The FIFA Council, football’s governing body’s main decision-making body, is due to discuss the funding plan on Thursday. It would then go through a consultation process before a possible final decision by the FIFA Council in December.
Any agreement would still require approval from the FIFA Congress in March.
FIFA generated approximately $15bn from the men’s FIFA World Cup, which was jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. That figure exceeded the governing body’s original projection of $11bn, which had later been revised to $13bn.
The proposed distribution also comes after the collapse of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan. That proposal would have made a 20 per cent stake in FIFA’s commercial and event operations available for private investment, and its failure resulted in intense scrutiny of Infantino.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani both called for Infantino to resign after the FFE controversy. Other influential figures in football also voiced their anger towards the 56-year-old.
Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), likewise took the position that Infantino should step down. He has since appeared to soften that stance and reversed his earlier call for a review of FIFA’s governance to be conducted by an independent body.
Ceferin and Montagliani have also written to Infantino to request that some of FIFA’s reserves be released to member associations.
The proposal to be presented on Thursday would allow FIFA to retain cash reserves of $1.7bn. The meeting will be the first FIFA Council gathering since the abandoned FFE plan.
Although Ceferin and Montagliani called for Infantino’s resignation, neither stood for the FIFA presidency. Both remain in charge of their confederations and have not proposed an alternative candidate.
Infantino is currently set to run unopposed for a third consecutive time, unless another candidate enters the race before the November 18 deadline.
