FIFA plans extra $3.4 billion in development funding from reserves

FIFA is preparing to propose an additional $3.4 billion for football development, drawing on its reserves to increase funding for the 2027-2030 cycle. According to BBC Sport's Dan Roan, the proposal is due before the governing body's council on Thursday. The money has not yet received final approval, with detailed arrangements and a congress vote still to come.

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The governing body attributes its ability to release the additional money to the commercial performance of this summer's World Cup. BBC Sport reported that the increase would more than double the development distributions already planned for the four-year period. FIFA's existing budget includes $2.7 billion for its 211 member associations, continental confederations, regional bodies and some associations that are not affiliated to FIFA.

Under the proposed allocations, each member association would receive $25 million, while each of the six continental confederations would receive $99 million. The plan also provides $8.25 million for each of 13 zonal or regional associations. A further allocation of $1.1 million apiece would go to 100 member associations to support travel and equipment, according to the BBC's account of the proposal.

The distribution would be divided into three equal portions. One would support women's and youth football development, another would fund infrastructure, and the remaining third would go towards projects. Infrastructure funded through the programme would have to provide equal access for women's and youth football. Those conditions accompany the proposed increase rather than leaving the entire allocation available without designated purposes.

The funding initiative follows opposition to president Gianni Infantino's abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which involved selling stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors. UEFA and Concacaf wrote to Infantino in September seeking payments of at least $10 million from reserves for every member association. Infantino subsequently told the six confederations that he supported maximising additional funding within responsible limits.

The council is scheduled to settle the programme's detailed rules in December 2026, including eligibility, applications, approvals, payments, oversight and auditing. The package would then require approval at the 77th FIFA Congress in March 2027. That is also the month in which Infantino is due to stand for re-election, leaving the proposed distributions subject to further decisions before implementation.