FIFA Power Struggle: UEFA and CONCACAF Challenge Infantino
GENEVA — The World Cup has filled FIFA’s coffers. Now that money is at the heart of an open power struggle at the top of world football.
In a blunt letter to Gianni Infantino, seen by The Associated Press, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani called for each of FIFA’s 211 member federations to receive an extra $10 million from the organization’s booming reserves. At the same time, they accelerated a campaign to remove Infantino from office over his attempt to sell stakes in World Cup commercial rights to private investors.
The message was unmistakable: the money will flow, even if Infantino goes.
Cash, power, and a $20 billion plan
FIFA’s reserves are projected to hit $6 billion after the lucrative World Cup staged in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Ceferin and Montagliani argue that the governing body can afford a “one-off release” of $2.1 billion to national associations, on top of existing funding commitments.
Their proposal lands directly in the shadow of Infantino’s now-abandoned plan to spin off World Cup and other commercial rights into a new vehicle, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), backed by private equity investors led by Joshua Kushner.
Infantino had dangled $20 million per federation as part of that controversial project. The new letter counters with a different promise: $10 million now, and a guarantee that already pledged money will not be touched.
The letter stresses that the previously announced $20 million in FIFA funding for each of the 211 member associations through 2030 “would continue in full as already committed.” In other words, federations are being told they do not need Infantino’s private equity vision to secure their financial future.
FIFA was approached for comment.
Infantino under siege
The attack is not just financial. It is political, and personal.
UEFA and CONCACAF now want Infantino removed either before or at the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March in Rabat, Morocco. The push follows a global backlash in July when news broke of the private investment proposal, which had been developed in secrecy and only came to light through press reports.
The investors’ group was fronted by Joshua Kushner, younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. Infantino had cultivated close ties with Trump in the build-up to the World Cup in North America, becoming a frequent visitor to the White House as the tournament approached.
After a hugely profitable tournament, Infantino looked on course to be re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term through 2031. The private equity storm has blown that certainty apart.
The election race itself remains wide open. No clear challenger has yet emerged. Names that regularly surface in speculation include Montagliani and Nasser al-Khelaifi, the Qatari president of Paris Saint-Germain and a member of UEFA’s executive committee who also holds a role in the Qatari government. Neither has publicly indicated a desire to run, and Infantino continues to enjoy the backing of the Qatar football federation.
Confederations split as Zurich showdown looms
The battle lines inside FIFA’s sprawling political map are sharpening.
UEFA and CONCACAF have moved into open opposition. The Asian Football Confederation has also voiced criticism of Infantino in recent weeks. By contrast, federations in South America and Africa remain largely in his corner.
Infantino has been working to hold his coalition together. He traveled to the Caribbean last month in a bid to reinforce support among CONCACAF’s smaller members — a trip Montagliani had explicitly asked him not to make.
Ceferin and Montagliani’s letter signals that they are now building a broader front. “Lastly, please note we will be informing the other four confederation presidents to support this motion,” they wrote, making clear that the campaign against Infantino will not stay confined to Europe and North America.
The next flashpoint is already on the calendar. On October 15, FIFA’s leadership will gather in Zurich for a meeting of the FIFA Council, chaired by Infantino. It will be the first such session since the private equity plan became public.
Before that, Ceferin and Montagliani want a full and independent analysis of FIFA’s finances, to be completed in time for the Zurich summit. Their aim: to establish how much money can responsibly be distributed to member federations without jeopardizing the organization’s long-term stability.
UEFA’s top brass will also convene at a UEFA-hosted event ahead of the Council meeting, a natural arena for plotting the next moves in the campaign against the president.
Legal front opens in the U.S.
The political fight now has a legal dimension.
UEFA has gone to courts in Manhattan and Florida seeking authorization to obtain evidence from Kushner’s investment firm in New York and from FIFA itself. The focus is the $20 billion FFE project and the process that led to it.
The European body wants access to documents and communications as it weighs filing a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where FIFA is based. The complaint would center on possible financial mismanagement by Infantino related to the attempted commercial spinoff.
If that complaint materializes, the dispute would move from football’s corridors of power into a courtroom setting, with all the scrutiny that entails.
Election clock ticking
Time is now a factor. FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for presidential candidates to formally enter the race. Four months later, the election will be held in Rabat, capital of Morocco — a staunch Infantino ally and 2030 World Cup co-host alongside Spain and Portugal, both UEFA members.
Every federation has a vote. Every federation stands to gain from the proposed $10 million windfall. And every federation is watching to see whether Infantino’s grip on power holds or cracks under the weight of political revolt, legal pressure, and a $6 billion question about who really controls world football’s money.
The next move comes in Zurich. The real verdict will come in Rabat.
