Two numbers ran through the letter Gianni Infantino sent to every national association in the FIFA system in late July.
Ten billion dollars if they said yes. Two point seven billion if they said no. And a six-week clock attached to both.
The document, uncovered by The Times on 29 July, laid out the terms in Infantino’s own words. Approve the plan to sell a 20% stake in a new World Cup commercial subsidiary to private investors, and a $10 billion funding package would be unlocked from the start of 2027. Reject it, and only the existing $2.7 billion expansion of the FIFA Forward development programme would remain on the table.
“Should you wish to proceed this $10 billion package will become available as of January 1, 2027, ushering in the next phase of our journey together,” Infantino wrote to the associations.
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“Should you wish to retain the status quo and reject this proposal we still have our planned expansion of the Forward programme [development money] of $2.7 billion as previously presented.”
$40 million per federation, $20 million up front
The individual sum on offer was the part the associations read first. Each of the 211 members would get access to up to $40 million for the 2027-30 FIFA cycle, according to the leaked terms, with a $20 million lump sum landing in January 2027.
That doubled the $20 million commitment the same associations had been working with under the existing programme.
Infantino framed the choice as consultation. “The decision on whether or not to proceed with this proposal belongs entirely to you,” he told the members.
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The deadline was 19 September. Anything past that date and the offer, on Infantino’s own terms, disappeared.
‘This says everything you need to know’
UEFA did not read the letter as consultation. European football’s governing body seized on the deadline as the point that mattered.
“We have learned of FIFA’s deadline to associations to support their proposals or have the one-off payout offer withdrawn,” UEFA said. “This says everything you need to know about this plan.”
A separate UEFA statement went further, accusing FIFA of crossing a line: “FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends.”
England’s Football Association said it had been “completely unaware” of the proposal and was “deeply concerned about the lack of process and governance” around it.
The plan the letter was selling
Behind the funding figures was a corporate structure. FIFA wanted to create a subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, and sell roughly 20% of it to private investors for around $4.2 billion.
The vehicle would have held World Cup commercial rights, sponsorships, broadcasting and ticketing. The main investor lined up was Thrive Capital, the New York firm founded by Joshua Kushner.
From letter to collapse in six days
The letter was leaked on 29 July. On 30 July, UEFA’s 55 member associations met in an emergency session and voted to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, if the plan went ahead. Confederation opposition spread to CONCACAF and the AFC within days.
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On 1 August, Infantino pulled the proposal. “Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he said.
FIFA’s leadership met in Rabat on 5 August to try to draw a line under the affair. Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom described what had happened as a “sad and reproachable series of events”. FIFA’s executives publicly reaffirmed their support for Infantino, whose re-election is scheduled for March 2027.
The offer of $40 million per federation is off the table. The letter that carried it, and the deadline that turned it into an ultimatum, is now the central document in the governance case against him.
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