ONE TOUCH SUMMARY
- FIFA president Gianni Infantino backs a tentative UEFA and Concacaf proposal to distribute World Cup revenues to member associations.
- UEFA and Concacaf proposed that FIFA share record World Cup windfall funds directly with member associations.
- Infantino's support signals movement on a proposal that would redirect World Cup revenue toward federations.
ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Infantino backing the idea is the cheapest move available to him. The UEFA and Concacaf proposal is tentative, his support is in principle, and nothing has moved beyond that — no formula, no per-association number, no payment route. Federations who have spent decades watching World Cup revenues land in Zurich and never reach their own accounts should treat the language with suspicion until it hardens into something with a recipient.
The politics are the interesting part. UEFA and Concacaf are not the confederations with their hands out; they are the ones whose members need the money least. Their interest is in the channel, not the charity: cash paid straight to associations is cash that doesn't route through confederations or sit in FIFA's development programmes, where the terms are written somewhere else.
An endorsement in a press conference and a payment in a federation's account are different documents. The measurable next step is the FIFA Council agenda: a listed figure and a named recipient route makes this real, a "distribution framework" does not. Until that paper exists, Infantino has agreed to nothing that costs him a dollar.
WHY IT MATTERS
Revenue sharing touches the core of FIFA governance: who controls the money and who benefits. Federation-level funding can strengthen smaller associations, and the proposal shows confederations pressing for a bigger say in how World Cup windfalls are spent.
TACTICAL FIT
Strategically, direct payments to member associations let FIFA and the confederations build goodwill across the membership. It also reframes the World Cup as a shared asset rather than a centralised FIFA revenue stream.
THE DEBATE
Should FIFA hand World Cup windfall cash straight to member federations?
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FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in a letter to the heads of all six confederations, has come out in favor of a tentative proposal from UEFA and Concacaf that FIFA distributes funds to member associations as a result of record revenues from this summer's World Cup, though he didn't specify the amount to be distributed.
ESPN obtained a copy of the letter, which was in response to previous correspondence from UEFA and Concacaf in which they proposed that each member association receive at least $10 million from FIFA after record revenue from the World Cup, though that amount could vary among the member associations across the 2027-30 cycle.
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The letter from UEFA and Concacaf came as the two confederations demanded Infantino's resignation after he attempted to sell off a 20% stake in the World Cup to investors led by Joshua Kushner. That proposal would have resulted in each member association receiving $20 million.
Kushner is the young brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. Infantino built close ties to Trump ahead of this year's World Cup held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and was a regular visitor to the White House.
Infantino has now come out broadly in favor of the proposal, though he wants to hash out the details when the FIFA Council meets on Oct. 15, noting that the different confederations had differing priorities.
"Taken together, your submissions confirm broad agreement on the central objective: FIFA's financial success must serve football and all FIFA's 211 Member Associations," Infantino's letter read in part. "When I sought the confidence of the Member Associations back in 2016, I said plainly: 'FIFA's money is your money - the Member Associations' money.'
"The figures and mechanisms now proposed are new. The principle is not."
In the letter, Infantino addressed the heads of each confederation: UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin, Concacaf's Victor Montagliani, CONMEBOL's Alejandro Dominguez, Asia Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, CAF's Patrice Motsepe and Oceania's Lambert Maltock. Infantino attempted to paint his response as being in broad alignment with what was proposed by Ceferin and Montagliani.
Gianni Infantino sent a letter to federation presidents on Monday outlining plans to pay them additional money from WC revenue.Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
"As part of its ongoing duties, the FIFA Administration was already examining how further development and solidarity support could responsibly be provided, subject to confirmation of FIFA's financial position and the necessary institutional approvals," Infantino said in his letter. "Your letters add complementary dimensions to that work: Aleksander and Vittorio propose a specific direct allocation; Salman emphasises the need for either a supported decision on 15 October or a short completion timetable; and Lambert highlights the structural costs faced by developing Confederations."
Infantino said the FIFA Council will attempt to work out the details, including the distribution amounts, when it meets in a little over two weeks.
"A single figure can begin the discussion, but it cannot complete a global policy," the letter read in part. "I have therefore instructed the Secretary General to consolidate all submissions into one integrated assessment for consideration by the FIFA Council on 15 October 2026."
Infantino added: "Until the assessment and necessary approvals are complete, no preliminary figure can be treated as an approved commitment to the Member Associations.
"I will not prejudge the amount. I will support the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered through FIFA's proper governance process, applied fairly and supported by transparent and auditable arrangements.
"The ambition is welcome. The financial evidence, governance and implementation must now support it."
Infantino also attempted to offer an olive branch to Ceferin and Montagliani after the backlash the FIFA chief received from federation presidents around the world for his proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.
"Let us approach this work in a spirit of unity, mutual respect and shared responsibility," Infantino said. "I am confident that together we can reach a sustainable and properly supported outcome for FIFA's Member Associations and for football in every part of the world."
AI-assisted · generated from ESPN FC reporting, not editor reviewed