09/18/26 10:59:00
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09/18 10:16 CDT Infantino's opponents at FIFA call for $10M payments to
federations from post-World Cup reserves
Infantino's opponents at FIFA call for $10M payments to federations from
post-World Cup reserves
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer
GENEVA (AP) --- FIFA's member federations should each get an extra $10 million
from its swelling cash reserves after a successful World Cup, the soccer body's
vice presidents from Europe and North America said in a letter Friday to its
president Gianni Infantino as they step up efforts to oust him for trying to
sell stakes in the tournament to private investors.
The letter says FIFA should have cash reserves of $6 billion after the World
Cup and can afford such a "one-off release" --- which would total $2.1 billion
to the 211 federations --- UEFA's president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF's
leader Victor Montagliani tell Infantino in a letter seen by The Associated
Press.
UEFA and CONCACAF want to remove Infantino --- either before or at the FIFA
presidential election next March --- after leading a global backlash in July
against his World Cup sell-off plan to investors led by Joshua Kushner.
The call for $10-million payments to the national federations --- who will
elect the next president --- is a clear counter to Infantino's offer of $20
million for each to support his now-failed project.
The message in Friday's letter appears to be reassuring FIFA members they will
get increased funding even without Infantino in the office he has occupied
since 2016. The letter says already promised FIFA funding --- $20 million for
each of the 211 through 2030 --- "would continue in full as already committed."
Ceferin and Montagliani tell Infantino they want a full and independent
analysis of FIFA's finances ahead of an Oct. 15 meeting in Zurich, to help
decide how much money can responsibly be given to member federations.
The UEFA and CONCACAF leaders shape as key players at the scheduled meeting
next month of the Infantino-chaired FIFA Council --- its first since his
secretive private equity plan was revealed by press reports in late July.
"Lastly, please note we will be informing the other four confederation
presidents to support this motion," Ceferin and Montagliani write.
UEFA has asked courts in Manhattan and Florida to authorize discovery of
evidence from Kushner's investment firm and FIFA for a potential criminal
complaint against Infantino in Switzerland for possible financial mismanagement.
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