UEFA and CONCACAF have written a joint letter to Gianni Infantino calling for at least $10million from its reserves to be paid to FIFA's 211 Member Associations.
It follows Infantino's failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plans, which intended to part-privatise world football's governing body.
The letter is signed by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. The latter is a potential candidate to run against Infantino in next March's election even though he has not yet publicly come forward.
"FIFA is on course to close 2023-26 with reserves of approximately $6billion," reads the letter, seen by talkSPORT. "[This is] considerably more than is required."
Infantino is asked to "make at least $10m available to each of [FIFA's] 211 member associations over the 2027-30 cycle". This would cost $2.11bn with pre-planned funding on top.
The letter backs up a belief from senior UEFA and CONCACAF figures that FIFA should invest using far more of its own reserves.
It was not lost on critics of FFE that Infantino was seeking $4.2bn from investors, including Joshua Kushner, and yet FIFA's own reserves following the 2022 World Cup were almost exactly this number.
Given the investment was offered on such favourable terms to private investors, there appears no reason why FIFA couldnâÂÂt have just used its own reserves to fund FFE allowing for 100 per cent of any profits to stay within the organisation. ItâÂÂs a moot point now FFE has been shelved, but one that has led to a wider debate over how FIFA should use its reserves.
Several federations, including the English Football Association, are in favour of FIFA depleting their reserves in order to better fund members. This is due to FIFA being a not-for-profit organisation and a confidence that the organisation's revenue streams will continue to grow.
Infantino had promised federations who endorsed FFE two joining bonuses: an initial payment worth $20m, and a secondary one for the same amount.
Ceferin and Montagliani argue FIFA has more than enough money to self-fund without the need for private investors.
"FIFA currently holds billions of dollars in accumulated reserves," the letter goes on to read. "These resources belong to football and exist to serve the game and its 211 Member Associations.
"Prudence should not prevent a careful examination of whether a portion could responsibly be released to the extent those reserves exceed FIFA's foreseeable needs.
"Releasing part of these reserves would demonstrate that member associations should not have to choose between development and good governance; between investment and integrity; or between financial support and the ability to consider proposals on their merits.
"Development is an institutional responsibility of FIFA â not a matter of individual discretion."
UEFA and CONCACAF have been lobbying other confederations to support their motion ahead of the next FIFA Council meeting on October 15 in Zurich.
Meanwhile, Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has called on Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström to release all documents relating to FFE, and to publish the reasoning behind why US striker Flo Balogun's red card against Bosnia was suspended making him eligible to play in the World Cup last sixteen tie with Belgium.
As talkSPORT exclusively revealed, Infantino was lobbied by US President Donald Trump to review the ban.
Infantino has been under significant pressure to stand down following both that incident and the ill-fated FFE proposal. Yet the FIFA President has vowed to fight on, and no candidate has yet come forward to stand against him.
That could change between now and the November 18 deadline, according to UEFA vice-president Laura McAllister. The former Wales international has been one of the leading voices within UEFA pushing for FIFA reforms, including a new president.
'There has to be a challenger for Infantino'
"In the weeks since the exposure of FFE, we have seen a gradual seeping lack of confidence in the leadership of Gianni Infantino," McAllister told talkSPORT's Ben Jacobs at the World Football Summit in Madrid.
"It wasn't just about that initiative, there have been a series of episodes or incidents over recent months and years that have undermined the confidence in his leadership.
"Most recently, there was the overturning of the red card of Balogun at the World Cup, and the FIFA Peace Prize over which there was no consultation⦠despite it being hugely political.
"There has to be a challenger to Infantino because he will certainly, as he already said, be a candidate in the election unless something dramatic happens in the coming weeks. Of course, it could do, but legal processes [including UEFA putting together a criminal case against Infantino and FIFA] take a long time, so let's not hold our breath over that.
"There has to be a candidate who, first of all, can command the support of all modernisers beyond just Europe. Football doesn't belong to Europe. Yes, we [UEFA] are a very powerful confederation and, yes, we generate a lot of funds, but football belongs to every single federation and club across the world. On this, I agree with Infantino that football doesn't belong to anyone in any geographical location.
"We have to unite people around a candidate, or maybe more than one candidate, and that candidate, whoever he or she is, has to stand on a manifesto of agreed reform: of greater transparency or greater accountability, of less political interference and must recognise the role of the FIFA President should be to run football, and not [like Infantino] to involve himself in other ventures, whether that's via the private or political sectors.
"I hope very much there will be a candidate [to rival Infantino] and I think that's where we are at the moment. Lots of work is happening behind the scenes. But we need a candidate with an ethos of credibility and modernisation, showing why they should win the election next March."
Behind the scenes, both Infantino and prospective candidates, including Montagliani, are doing the maths to determine where the votes lie.
Infantino went into the 2026 World Cup with 200+ letters of endorsement. Several of these have been revoked, but the FIFA President currently still has more than 106 Member Associations on side despite a wave of withdrawals of support from Europe.
ThatâÂÂs why Infantino remains so bullish about winning another term, but the landscape could yet change if another candidate emerges to rival him.