The clash between world football's governing body and FIFA President Gianni Infantino has entered another phase. UEFA and CONCACAF have sent a letter to Infantino demanding that FIFA use part of its financial reserves to give at least $10 million to each of its 211 member associations.
The letter, obtained by BBC Sport, was signed by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani. It argues that FIFA is expected to end the 2023-2026 financial cycle with around $6 billion in reserves, a figure they say is significantly higher than the organisation's projected needs up until the 2030 World Cup.
According to the proposal of the two confederations, FIFA should make available at least $10 million to each of the 211 federations during the 2027-2030 cycle. In total, this would mean an allocation of about $2.11 billion, on top of the regular funds that FIFA plans to give to the federations.
The request comes after controversy over the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" project, a plan promoted by Infantino that envisioned the creation of a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. Under the plan, 21% of the new company would be sold to an investment company.
The proposal was withdrawn after just four days, following objections from a large number of national federations.
During the presentation of the plan, Infantino told the federations that they could benefit from up to $40 million if they supported the initiative. The FIFA president had set a September 19 deadline for the federations to accept the plan in order to benefit from an initial payment of $20 million.
In their letter, Ceferin and Montagliani argue that analysis of FIFA's published financial statements and budgets raises questions about whether the FFE project was necessary to secure new financial resources.
They also demand an "independent review" of FIFA's finances, with full access to the figures and assumptions on which the financial projections are based.
"FIFA currently holds billions of dollars in accumulated reserves," the letter states, while Ceferin and Montagliani argue that these funds belong to all of football and should serve the development of member federations.
The two leaders are asking the FIFA Council to consider the possibility of an even larger distribution of reserves once the organization's financial situation at the end of the year has been determined.
Another letter, also obtained by BBC Sport, has been sent to the leaders of other confederations in Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania, asking them to support the initiative.
The debate comes a day after the president of the English Football Association, Debbie Hewitt, called on Infantino and FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom to release all documents related to the FFE project.
Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, also demanded a written explanation for the decision to overturn the suspension of United States striker Folarin Balogun at the World Cup.
The documents and explanations are requested before the next FIFA Council meeting, scheduled for October 15.
The clash comes on the eve of FIFA's presidential election. Infantino, 56, is expected to run for a fourth term in the March election, while federations seeking an alternative candidate have until November 18 to propose him.
