An apology and a proposal of $25 million for each federation. Here are the results of the FIFA meeting in Zurich

- The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) held a meeting, on Thursday, in the Swiss city of Zurich for the first time since the 2026 World Cup. During the meeting, FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed his apology for the proposal to sell shares in the men’s and women’s World Cups to investors, which was withdrawn after widespread criticism, stressing that “football belongs to everyone, everywhere.”

The official website of the International Federation stated that “in the wake of the exceptional and unprecedented commercial revenues achieved by the 2026 World Cup, the FIFA administration presented to the FIFA Council a proposed initiative called: the Solidarity Program from FIFA’s financial surplus, which requires using part of FIFA’s reserves to more than double the volume of funding planned for the period between 2027 and 2030, to reach $6.35 billion.” He added: “According to forecasts that have not yet been subject to financial scrutiny, the size of the financial surplus for the 2023-2026 cycle is expected to range between 5.2 and 5.6 billion US dollars, and taking into account the requirements imposed by the statute on FIFA to ensure achieving a balance between its revenues and expenditures throughout the four-year cycle, FIFA management proposed maintaining a financial reserve of 1.7 billion dollars to deal with unforeseen circumstances.”

He explained, “The allocations provided to each member national federation will amount to $25 million, while the allocations due to continental federations, regional-zonal federations and other actors within the framework of the fourth edition of the FIFA Forward program are scheduled to increase significantly, provided that the terms of distribution are in line with the development of women’s football and age groups, long-term football projects, and football infrastructure.” He continued: “The relevant FIFA committees, then the FIFA Council, during its next meeting in December, will develop the final version of the plan, including eligibility requirements, submitting and approving applications, disbursing funds, monitoring and auditing.”

The plan is scheduled to be included in the annual report for the year 2026, with all of these elements subject to the approval of the 77th FIFA Congress in March of next year, in accordance with approved governance practices. Infantino said in response: “As we have repeatedly emphasized since 2016, FIFA’s funds, including its reserves, belong to the 211 member national associations.”

He added: “The proposal to raise the volume of investments directed to all member national federations, continental federations and other actors to $6.35 billion, aims to consolidate our firm commitment to providing further support for the development of football and expanding the scope of its practice around the world, thanks to the exceptional financial results achieved by the last World Cup tournament.” Gianni Infantino continued: “During the ten years that have passed since I assumed the presidency of FIFA, we have gone from providing one million dollars to each member national federation to $25 million to each federation around the world.”