"Trust is not the absence of disagreement," Gianni Infantino wrote to the confederation presidents who publicly called him out. Not exactly a warm handshake — but it signals the logjam over FIFA's reserve funds is finally moving.
Infantino has told the heads of Concacaf, UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and the Oceania Football Confederation that he is open to distributing more money from FIFA's estimated $6 billion in reserves to each of its 211 member associations. The proposal, pushed hardest by Concacaf's Victor Montagliani and UEFA's Aleksander Čeferin, would mean an additional $10 million per member association across the 2027–2030 cycle. That's not pocket change for smaller football federations trying to build infrastructure, youth programmes, or just keep the lights on.
What's actually on the table
Infantino hasn't given a flat yes. He's asked the confederation presidents to consolidate their proposals and send specifics to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström before the FIFA Council meets on October 15 in Switzerland. The council — which includes the confederation presidents alongside 29 other members — would then vote on how much to distribute, how much to keep in reserve, and what safeguards need to be in place.
The political context here matters. This push comes after Infantino floated a plan to bring in private investment to take stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments — a proposal that quietly got withdrawn after backlash from exactly the stakeholders now writing letters about reserves. Infantino's letter connects the two directly, arguing the commercial plan "would actually have been on top of" existing distribution, not a replacement for it. Whether that framing lands or not, the commercial proposal is gone and this one isn't.
Infantino has run FIFA since 2016 and is standing for re-election in March 2027. No challenger has declared yet, and the deadline for candidates to come forward — with backing from at least five member associations — is November 18. Handing 211 associations an extra $10 million each isn't a bad way to enter a campaign period.
Why this matters beyond the politics
Smaller confederations like Oceania and CAF member associations operate on tight budgets where a few million dollars genuinely shifts what's possible at grassroots level. If the October council meeting produces a real framework, the downstream effect on football development globally could be significant — and the support Lambert Maltock (Oceania) and Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa (AFC) have already thrown behind the proposal suggests the votes may already be there.
The October 15 council meeting in Switzerland is the date to watch. Everything else right now is negotiating position.
