For the second consecutive World Cup, Manchester City topped FIFA’s list of payments to clubs whose players were selected for Qatar’s 32 national teams.
Of the $209 million fund allocated by FIFA, the Premier League and Champions League winner received almost $4.6 million, dwarfing the total sent to the entire African continent, which had five national teams at the World Cup. The list published on Thursday showed a total of 18 African clubs combined to earn $4.57 million.
FIFA said 440 clubs in 51 countries were rewarded with payments funded by the governing body. $7.5 billion of revenue for the four-year business cycle mostly tied to the 2022 men’s tournament.
The project launched for the 2010 World Cup once again showed how clubs in the richest and most dominant continent in football have nurtured, attracted and retained many of the best talent.
Clubs from UEFA member countries received $159 million, 76% of the total fund, and clubs from England received $37.7 million, FIFA said.
A fifth-tier club in England, Boreham Wood, received double the FIFA payment ($31,026 vs. $15,513) awarded to Santos, the historic Brazilian team that was Pele’s home and where Neymar began his career.
FIFA calculated the payments at a daily rate of $10,950 for each of the 837 players serving in Qatar until the day after their team’s last game. The allocation of each player was divided between the clubs that had their registration from the 2020-21 season.
Man City owed payments for players ranging from Julián Álvarez and his former defender Nicolás Otamendi in Argentina’s title-winning team, six members of England’s quarter-final squad and Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, who exited in the group stage. City had received $5 million which leads the list of the 209 million dollars from FIFA in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Barcelona was the next highest earner on the 2022 list with $4.54 million, including $131,405 from Lionel Messi’s time with the club in 2020-21 until he left for Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich’s share was more than $4.3 million, including payments for four players from the French runner-up.
Although Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, 27 Italian clubs earned a total of $18.7 million from their foreign players. Juventus received more than $3 million, including $394,215 for Frenchman Adrien Rabiot and allocations from the Argentine trio Ángel Di María, Leandro Paredes and Paulo Dybala.
A player from finalists Argentina and France who had been with the same club since the start of the 2020-21 season earned $394,215 for that club.
Yet famed Argentine club Boca Juniors is owed just $32,851 for defender Nahuel Molina’s brief stay with the club in the 2020-21 season before moving to Europe. River Plate, Boca’s rival in Buenos Aires, owed $1.2 million.
The Spanish clubs collectively earned $24.2 million, the German clubs shared just over $21 million, and the French clubs’ payout was $16.5 million.
Clubs from Saudi Arabia topped the Asian list with $6.6 million and clubs from the host nation Qatar raked in $6.3 million. Clubs in the United States received $5.4 million, topped by $827,000 for the Seattle Sounders.
Morocco’s historic run as the first African team to reach the semi-finals was accomplished with many players based in Europe. Only two Moroccan clubs in Casablanca earned FIFA money: $1.4 million for Wydad and $31,938 for Raja.
Just $20,075 went to a single club in Senegal, Génération Foot, for the 27-player national team that reached the round of 16 in Qatar. It included Sadio Mané, who withdrew injured before the first game.
FIFA’s payments of its World Cup revenues were agreed as part of an agreement with an elite group of clubs that formed the European Club Association in 2008 to represent teams playing in UEFA competitions.
The ECA said in a statement on Thursday that it was “defending the interests” of clubs from all countries and “amplifying their contributions to the success” of national team soccer.
The total fund is negotiated when the FIFA-ECA working agreements are renewed and will be $355 million for each Men’s World Cup in 2026 and 2030.
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the first with 48 teams and 1,104 expected players selected.
FIFA’s comparable fund for the 2023 Women’s World Cup that begins next week is $11.5 million for clubs that contribute at least 736 players to Australia’s and New Zealand’s 32 national teams.
Associated Press report.
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