FIFA
Which clubs did FIFA pay the most to go to the 2022 Qatar World Cup?
Football’s governing body has revealed it paid clubs $209 million to release players for the showpiece event in Qatar.
Today, Gianni Infantino is feeling honest and perhaps slightly out of pocket. It has been revealed, by FIFA themselves, that the governing body of football paid nearly £200m ($209 million USD) to clubs in order for them to release players to play in the Qatar World Cup 2022, which was held in the middle of the European football season, in November and December.
European teams were given 76% of the total money handed out by the organisation, with $158.9m given to English clubs, who received the largest share.
How many clubs did FIFA pay?
Sky Sports News report that 837 players were released by 440 different teams to play in the tournament that was eventually won by Argentina, who beat France 4-2 on penalties after drawing 3-3 in extra-time.
Which club was paid the most by FIFA?
The report also revealed that Manchester City were the club that were paid the most by FIFA, who were also the Premier League side with the most representation at the World Cup with 16. According to the BBC, treble winners City received $4.6m from the total money given out in payments to clubs; Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain came next on the list.
Will clubs get paid to go to the next World Cup?
Gianni Infantino has confirmed the money to prize players away from their clubs will rise for both the 2026 and 2030 editions of the tournament, which is to be expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
“Following the renewal of the memorandum of understanding with the European Clubs’ Association, the amount redistributed to clubs will further increase from $209m (£160.91m) for the 2018 and 2022 editions to $355m (£304.35m) for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments, recognising yet again the importance of the role played by clubs,” Infantino said.