--- title: "Gianni Infantino opens FIFA’s purse as his grip on football weakens" description: "Millions for member associations are on the table as the FIFA president fights for a fourth term" author: "Albion Grey" published: 2026-09-29T07:10:07Z modified: 2026-09-29T11:35:51Z url: https://rews.cc/a/gianni-infantino-opens-fifa-s-purse-as-his-grip-on-football--c71605 language: en tags: ["fifa", "infantino", "politics", "governance", "re-election", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Gianni Infantino opens FIFA’s purse as his grip on football weakens *Millions for member associations are on the table as the FIFA president fights for a fourth term* By Albion Grey · September 29, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/gianni-infantino-opens-fifa-s-purse-as-his-grip-on-football--c71605 ## In brief - FIFA president Gianni Infantino has offered to discuss distributing millions of dollars to member associations ahead of his re-election bid - The sums will be discussed at the FIFA Council meeting on October 15, after UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC chiefs requested payments - The move follows backlash to a shelved plan to sell about 20% of a World Cup commercial entity, in which Joshua Kushner was to invest - The Premier League and the Spanish, Italian and German leagues have demanded FIFA governance reform and accused Infantino of promoting exploitative ideas - Infantino plans to run in March for what critics call a fourth term; no challenger has yet declared There is an old rhythm to elections in world football: the incumbent discovers, shortly before the vote, an urgent desire to share the game’s riches with its members. Gianni Infantino, who has run FIFA for a decade, appears to be keeping time. With fewer than six months until the presidential election, the 56-year-old has told the heads of the six regional confederations that he is willing to discuss disbursing millions of dollars to member associations, in a letter whose contents were reported by American media on September 28th. The size of the distributions will be on the agenda when the FIFA Council meets on October 15th. Mr Infantino struck a note of careful generosity. “I will not prejudge the amount,” he wrote, according to one report. “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.” > A single figure can begin the discussion, but it cannot complete a global policy. Mr Infantino added that he had instructed FIFA’s secretary-general to consolidate all submissions into one assessment for the council. The timing is hard to miss. The letter answered requests from some of the same footballing grandees who have lately been calling for his head: Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, and Victor Montagliani of CONCACAF recently wrote to FIFA seeking payments of the sort Mr Infantino now contemplates, and Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, head of the Asian Football Confederation, made a similar request, according to the reports. UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC have all called for Mr Infantino’s resignation. The immediate cause of the revolt was a commercial scheme. Mr Infantino had proposed selling roughly 20% of a new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise, which would handle the commercial and operational sides of the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments. Among the intended investors was Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, who is a close ally of Mr Infantino. The plan has since been abandoned, but the damage lingers. Had it proceeded, each member nation would reportedly have received at least $20m. The letter from UEFA and CONCACAF now asks for every member association to receive a minimum of $10m from FIFA’s reserves. The discontent runs deeper than one deal. On September 25th the English Premier League and its counterparts in Spain, Italy and Germany issued a joint statement demanding governance reform at FIFA, accusing Mr Infantino of actively promoting “exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them”. His closeness to powerful political leaders and his drive to squeeze more revenue from the game are widely seen as threats to it. He has also faced the growing threat of legal proceedings, though the details remain contested territory for now. Then there is the small matter of arithmetic. FIFA limits its presidents to three four-year terms. Mr Infantino, elected at an extraordinary congress in 2016 after Sepp Blatter’s resignation, successfully argued in 2022 that this first spell completed an interrupted mandate and so should not count. That leaves him free to seek what would in effect be a fourth term in March. Critics and rights groups have asked FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee to block the bid. All of which explains why a man accused of exploitation is suddenly keen on redistribution. Cash for member associations is the classic balm of football politics: national federations vote, and federations with an extra $10m in the bank tend to vote gratefully. Whether the confederation chiefs who demanded the money will be bought off by it is another question; asking for funds and resignations in the same season suggests they see the two as compatible. Mr Infantino retains one formidable advantage: with about seven weeks left for candidates to declare, no challenger has stepped forward. A wealthy incumbent with no opponent rarely loses. But the leagues and confederations now arrayed against him have time to find a candidate, and the October 15th council meeting will show whether his promised millions read as magnanimity or as what they more plausibly are: the opening bid in an auction for his own job.