A total sum of $355 million (300 million euros) was announced on Tuesday by FIFA as pay-out to clubs releasing players for next year’s World Cup – a 70 percent hike on the 2022 edition.
The new benefit scheme deal, reached in association with the powerful European Club Association (ECA), includes for the first time players involved in qualifiers but not figuring in the 48-team 2026 tournament, co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
For the 32-team 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA distributed $209 million to 440 sides “from 51 FIFA member associations”, football’s world governing body noted.
“The enhanced edition of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is going a step further by recognising financially the huge contribution that so many clubs and their players around the world make to the staging of both the qualifiers and the final tournament,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.