FIFA will pay $209 million to clubs for releasing players who took part in the World Cup in Qatar last year, world football’s governing body said on Thursday.
440 clubs from 51 different countries will get paid a daily amount of $10,950 for each of 837 footballers at the mega event, regardless of how many minutes they played at the World Cup.
The total per player is divided and distributed to the club, or clubs, with which the player was registered in the two years leading up to the finals in Qatar.
The amount is more than the $8,530 that FIFA paid per player at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
For Qatar, a total of 46 English clubs will be the largest recipients with a combined total of $37,713,297, followed by clubs from Spain, Germany, Italy and France.
Manchester City will be paid the most for a single club with a sum of $4,596,445 followed by Barcelona ($4,538,955) and Bayern Munich ($4,331,809).
Under the agreement signed earlier this year by FIFA and the European Club Association, $355 million will be distributed to clubs under the programme for the 2026 and 2030 editions of the World Cup.
The prestigious football event was won by Lionel Messi’s Argentina after they beat France in a thrilling clash which ended in a penalty shootout.