Bangladesh and FIFA’s 210 other member associations could each receive an additional $10 million windfall without selling off any commercial rights to future World Cups, following a joint proposal submitted by European and North American football governing bodies.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani sent a formal letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, pressing world football’s governing body to release over $2 billion directly from its substantial cash reserves to support global football development.
The joint initiative directly challenges Infantino’s controversial project, dubbed “FIFA Forward Enterprise”. Under that scheme, FIFA had explored selling a 20 per cent stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other premier competitions to private investment funds to generate capital. Reports in The Times indicated that Infantino had tied the distribution of additional funds to member associations on their willingness to back his venture.
However, senior officials from UEFA and CONCACAF argued that sacrificing institutional ownership to private investors is entirely unnecessary. They stressed that FIFA’s vast financial buffers are more than capable of funding football development across developing regions, including South Asia, without relinquishing prized commercial assets.
Under the joint distribution framework, every single member association—including the Bangladesh Football Federation—would receive a $10 million grant. The proposal also allocates $36 million to each of the six continental confederations and an additional $3 million to regional sub-confederations. According to estimates provided by UEFA and CONCACAF, FIFA would still retain a comfortable liquid cash reserve of $2.6 billion after disbursing these funds.
Confederation leaders criticised Infantino for pursuing commercial stake sales without proper consultation with the FIFA Council. This coordinated push places renewed governance pressure on Infantino ahead of the upcoming FIFA Council meeting, where the proposal and the organisation’s overall financial health will be formally reviewed. While Infantino has expressed willingness to discuss supplementary funding for member nations, the exact figure and distribution terms remain subject to final council approval.
