The Nigeria Football Federation could access up to $40 million in the first phase of a proposed expansion of FIFA’s global football development programme, Bold sports reports.
FIFA announced on Tuesday that it intends to invest more than $10 billion in football development over the next four years, subject to approval by a majority of its 211 member associations and the FIFA Council.
Under the proposal, each member association would be eligible to apply for up to $20 million in one-off funding through a new FIFA Fast Forward Programme. The optional funding would be reserved for major projects such as stadiums, national training centres and other long-term infrastructure that may be too expensive to complete within one FIFA development cycle.
In addition, FIFA plans to increase the regular allocation available to each association under the FIFA Forward Programme from $8 million to $20 million for the 2027 to 2030 cycle.
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For Nigeria, this means the NFF could potentially access a combined maximum of $40 million from the one-off programme and the regular Forward allocation. However, the funding is not yet guaranteed, as the proposal must first secure the necessary approvals and participating associations will still be required to meet FIFA’s funding conditions.
FIFA said the regular allocation would increase further to $22 million per association for the 2031 to 2034 cycle and $24 million for 2035 to 2038.
The funds would support football infrastructure, coaching, national teams, domestic competitions, grassroots development and women’s football.
According to FIFA’s official announcement, the expanded funding would be driven by the creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new commercial subsidiary that would combine the governing body’s broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing rights with the operational delivery of its tournaments.
FIFA Forward Enterprise would seek to raise up to $4.2 billion from external investors later in 2026, based on an initial valuation of $20 billion.
The investors would acquire minority, non-controlling interests in the company. FIFA said it would retain control through majority representation on its board and maintain exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the international match calendar and all sporting and regulatory decisions.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the proposal as part of an effort to ensure that the commercial value generated by football benefits countries regardless of their size, wealth or location.
“This is about the democratisation of football worldwide,” Infantino said.
The governing body said all net benefits generated by the new subsidiary would be reinvested in football. When combined with its other existing programmes, FIFA estimates that its planned development investment could exceed $10 billion over the next four years.
Subject to final agreements, Thrive Eternal is expected to lead the proposed group of long-term investors. Former Liberty Media president and chief executive Greg Maffei has advised FIFA on the project, while J.P. Morgan has been engaged to work with the governing body on the proposed capital raise.
The proposal has, however, attracted opposition from UEFA, which questioned the transparency of the arrangement and warned against placing football’s commercial and governance structures in the hands of private investors.
“It is not FIFA’s to sell,” UEFA said, according to Reuters.
FIFA insists that the investors would have no operational role and would be buying stakes only in its commercial subsidiary, not FIFA itself.
The governing body has begun consultations with its member associations. FIFA Forward Enterprise will only be established if it receives the support of a majority of the 211 associations and the FIFA Council approves the required regulatory changes.
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