September 21: AFC president and FIFA vice-president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has joined UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani in calling on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to release a one-off payment to member associations from their cash reserves.
Like Ceferin and Montagliani, Salman is asking for $10 million for each of the 211 member associations, which would mean FIFA handing out $2.1 billion of its $6 billion in cash reserves.
Salman is calling for a review of FIFA’s reserves and a decision to be made by the FIFA Council at its next meeting in Zurich on October 15, saying there should be “a definitive decision” on the allocation of surplus reserves or the establishment of a “clear timetable and process for the necessary review, approval and further implementation”.
It is a position in stark contrast to Infantino’s plan to raise $4 billion by selling FIFA World Cup rights to a private equity-backed business – FIFA Football Enterprise (FFE).
Infantino offered the incentive (most saw it as a bribe) of $20 million for each member association that subscribed to his plan within a very short period of time, but nothing for those that did not.
The three confederation heads have made it clear that FIFA’s reserves belong to all member associations equally and that FIFA does not need to raise more money by selling its commercial life to outside investors.
“As you have consistently stressed, FIFA’s financial success should benefit football and its member associations. In this spirit, the exceptional commercial success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup should provide an opportunity to support member associations and the development of football worldwide,” Salman said in his letter.
“To ensure that the football family can benefit from these resources for the continued development of football, without unnecessary administrative or financial delays, I believe it is important that the FIFA council considers this matter at its meeting on 15 October 2026.”
In August, when the details of the FFE plan were released, Ceferin, Montagliani and Salman called for Infantino’s resignation. UEFA subsequently filed discovery in three US jurisdictions for a possible criminal or civil case against Infantino in Switzerland. In discovery they asked for detailed documentation around the FFE proposal and communications between all parties involved.
No information has been released to suggest that Infantino and his co-conspirators have anything to hide about the way the deal was strategized, evaluated and presented to FIFA’s member associations. Key to the discovery request is what contracts had been drawn up and what the separate agreement was for Infantino, both with respect to his disputed employment at FFE and whether a commission was to be paid to secure that agreement. If he is free and clear of suspicion, there should be no problem in disclosing the requested information, which is in any case part of his role as FIFA President whom he represented, whether he had discussed it with its members or not.
Three heads of the confederation have called for the distribution of $10 million from FIFA’s reserves to each member association. The other three heads of the confederation, the African Patrice Motsepe, the South American Alejandro Domínguez and the Oceanic Lambert Matlock, have been written by Ceferin and Montagliani asking for their support to release the funds.
Members of their national associations are generally the most needy when it comes to the distribution of FIFA grant money. That the leaders of their confederation have not yet publicly supported the release of funds to their own member associations. It’s not clear why they haven’t.
See: Ceferin and Montagliani are asking for the confederation’s support to pay more FIFA reserves
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