Clubs will earn record amounts from the World Cup in Russia

The International Football Federation FIFA has allocated 209 million for teams that sent their players to the World Cup.

The tournament in Russia will earn clubs record sums
It is well known that participation, results, and placement of national teams at the championship in Russia will be rewarded. FIFA has allocated 400 million dollars in prize money. Less known is the fact that generous payments will also go to individual clubs that provide their players for national team duties. For this purpose, FIFA created the so-called Club Benefits Programme ten years ago, and for the current tournament, a record 209 million dollars has been set aside. It was first introduced before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. “It is a very profitable event and FIFA created this fund so that everyone would be happy – not just national federations and players but also football clubs,” Jozef Tokos, sports analyst and football agent, told the Economic Daily.

Thousands of euros per day
The key to dividing the mentioned sum among clubs is simple: at the tournament there are 736 footballers in national teams, who will spend a total of more than 24,000 days at the event. This includes two weeks before the start of the championship and then the time their team spends at the tournament. The daily rate thus comes to 8,530 dollars. “This amount will please big clubs that have the most players at the World Cup – but also smaller ones that have only one. A good example is DAC Dunajska Streda,” says Tokos. The club from the Great Rye Island is the only team from Slovakia entitled to money from FIFA. It was the only club from the Fortuna League to send a player to the World Cup, namely Panama international Eric Davis. He was in the starting line-up of his team and played the full 90 minutes in the first two matches of the tournament against Belgium (0:3) and England (1:6). Since Panama has already lost its chance to advance to the round of 16, it is now certain that Thursday will be its last day in Russia. Davis will thus spend a total of 29 days at the World Cup, meaning Dunajska Streda will receive almost 250,000 dollars. “It is excellent promotion for our club, especially because Davis is the very first player in DAC’s history to appear in a World Cup match,” said Jan Van Daele, sports director of Dunajska Streda.

Millions for big clubs
It is interesting to see how sharply the finances in the Club Benefits Programme have grown over the last three World Cups. In South Africa, clubs shared 40 million dollars; four years ago in Brazil, it was already 70 million. This year the sum is three times higher. “This proves the great power of the biggest football clubs, which are able to negotiate such increases with the decision-makers,” Tokos notes. This rise will certainly be reflected in the final payouts for the biggest suppliers of players to national teams. Four years ago, Bayern Munich earned the most for its players – over 1.7 million dollars. Now, the English giant Manchester City has the most players in Russia. Even if all 16 of its players spent the minimum 29 days at the World Cup, the club would earn almost 4 million dollars. But its players are key members of the Brazilian, Spanish, English, and Belgian national teams, which will certainly stay in the tournament longer than just the group stage. “It can be expected that with the continuous growth in the value of clubs and players, these payments will increase for future World Cups as well,” Tokos added.