Fifa to pay clubs US$355mil for sending players to World Cup

ZURICH: Fifa’s compensation paid to clubs that release players for the men’s World Cup has been increased by nearly 70% to US$355 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments, the global soccer governing body and the European Club Association (ECA) said on Monday.

The club benefits programme affords clubs a share of national team competition revenues in return for releasing players and also protects clubs in case their players are injured on international duty.

The previous amount earmarked for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was US$209 million. A renewed Memorandum of Understanding was signed today at the ECA General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary.