FIFA to spend $6.35bn on football development — Report

FIFA is set to spend $6.35bn on global football development between 2027 and 2030, following a proposed $3.4bn increase in funding to member associations and other football bodies.

As reported by BBC Sport on Wednesday, the world football governing body plans to release the additional funds from its reserves, more than doubling the amount initially budgeted for distribution during the four-year period.

FIFA said the proposed increase was made possible by the commercial success of this summer’s World Cup.

The proposal is expected to be considered at a meeting of the FIFA Council on Thursday, amid pressure on president Gianni Infantino following criticism of his proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which sought to sell stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors.

The proposal attracted opposition from several football stakeholders, including UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation.

In September, UEFA and Concacaf wrote to Infantino, urging FIFA to distribute at least $10m from its cash reserves to each of its 211 member associations.

In a subsequent letter to the six continental confederations, Infantino said he would support “the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered

Under the new proposal, FIFA will increase its existing $2.7bn development funding budget to $6.35bn for the 2027–2030 cycle.

The funding will support football development across member associations, continental confederations, regional associations and selected organisations not affiliated with FIFA.

Under the proposed distribution plan, each member association would receive $25m, while each of the six continental confederations would receive $99m.

The 13 zonal and regional associations would receive $8.25m each, while 100 member associations would receive an additional $1.1m each for travel and equipment support.

FIFA also plans to direct a significant portion of the funding towards infrastructure, women’s football, youth development and other projects.

Under the proposed terms, one-third of the funding would go towards women’s and youth football development, another third towards infrastructure, with equal access for women’s and youth football, while the remaining third would be allocated to projects.

The eligibility criteria, application procedures, approval processes, disbursement arrangements and audit requirements are expected to be finalised by the FIFA Council at its next meeting in December 2026.

The proposal will subsequently require approval at the 77th FIFA Congress scheduled for March 2027.

Infantino, who is expected to seek a fourth term as FIFA president in March 2027, has faced growing calls from football administrators for greater financial support to member associations.

The proposed increase would provide additional resources for football development worldwide, particularly in countries where funding constraints have limited investment in facilities, grassroots programmes and youth competitions.

However, the final distribution framework and its implementation will depend on approval by FIFA’s governing bodies.