Each of FIFA’s 211 national associations would receive $25 million over the four-year cycle, up from the $10 million originally pencilled in. Over the same period, each of the six continental confederations would receive $99 million.

The money comes from a reserve pile built by the 2026 World Cup. FIFA plans to distribute more than $3.5 billion from reserves swollen by what the document calls the “unprecedented commercial” success of the expanded 48-team tournament.

The 2022-2026 cycle generated roughly $15 billion in revenue, well above FIFA’s own projections.

Gianni Infantino laid out the plan in a 28 September letter to the heads of football’s six continental confederations.

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“Taken together, your submissions confirm broad agreement on the central objective: FIFA’s financial success must serve football and all FIFA’s 211 member associations,” Infantino wrote.

He added that he was “confident that together we can reach a sustainable and properly supported outcome for FIFA’s member associations and for football in every part of the world.”

Women’s and youth football prioritised

If approved, the package would “more than double the level of planned distribution funding for the 2027-2030 period, with a specific focus on investment and development of women’s and youth football,” according to the FIFA document seen by The Associated Press.

For many smaller federations, $25 million over four years would dwarf annual operating budgets that currently depend heavily on FIFA development grants to pay for pitches, coaching courses and youth programmes.

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Timeline runs through Rabat congress

The FIFA Council is expected to finalise the plan in December 2026, with the 77th FIFA Congress scheduled to vote on it in Rabat, Morocco, in March 2027. The same congress will host FIFA’s presidential election on 18 March, where Infantino is seeking a further term.

In August 2026, UEFA announced a criminal complaint in Switzerland against Infantino over alleged financial mismanagement tied to a World Cup commercial rights deal, and European leaders are reportedly working to field a rival candidate. UEFA and its 55 member federations represent more than a quarter of FIFA’s voting pool.

Confederations do not control how their member associations vote, however. Each of FIFA’s 211 members casts its own ballot at the Congress, and the development package will have to clear that one-member-one-vote threshold.

The proposal document is dated 14 October 2026 and now goes to the FIFA Council for finalisation in December before the Rabat congress ratifies or rejects it in March 2027.

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