In order to further emphasise the significant contribution of clubs to the success of international football, ECA has agreements in place with UEFA and FIFA, which ensure that clubs receive a share of the revenue gained from their respective national team competitions, namely UEFA EURO and the FIFA World Cup.
UEFA EURO & NATIONS LEAGUE CLUB BENEFITS PROGRAMMES
As part of an agreement between ECA and UEFA, the European governing body distributes, every four years, an amount from UEFA EURO and UEFA Nations League editions to National Nssociations for them to pass on to their clubs which have contributed players to the successful staging of the competitions. The first tournament concerned was UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland/Austria where 180 clubs benefitted from €43.5m. In 2012, for UEFA EURO in Poland/Ukraine, 575 clubs benefitted from an amount of €55m. The available amount for club distribution was further increased for UEFA EURO 2016 in France to €150m.
Distribution Mechanism
The latest agreement in place with UEFA rewards not only clubs that have released players to the final tournament, but also foresees benefits for any club that has released a player during the qualification phase (EURO qualifiers) and UEFA Nations League games. For UEFA EURO 2024 and the 2020/21 and 2022/23 UEFA Nations League editions, the total amount (€240m) will be split between the qualification phase + Nations League games (€100m) and the final tournament (€140m).
Qualification Phase
For the UEFA Nations League games and EURO qualifiers, the concept is to reward the actual release of the players. Each club that released a player to the national team for a qualifying match (incl. play-offs) receives a fixed amount per player per match. Only players who were listed on the official match sheet (max. 23 players) are taken into account.
The amount per player per match for UEFA Nations League and EURO qualification games amounts to around €3’600.
Final Tournament
For the EURO final tournament, the total amount is broken down into a fixed amount per player per day - starting 10 days before the first match of the respective national team and finishing the day after the national team’s last match in the final tournament. This amount varies in compliance with the rationale of the FIFA training compensation categorisation per country to better reflect the different levels of player remuneration.
Amount per player per day for EURO 2020 amounted to:
- Category 1 Club: € 8’700
- Category 2 Club: € 5’800
- Category 3 Club: € 2’900
In all cases, the clubs to benefit from these payments are those with which the players concerned were registered during the relevant release period. As for the qualifying competition, only players released by a club belonging to a UEFA member association are taken into account.
UEFA EURO 2020
For the first time, at the 2020 tournament, the clubs' financial benefits from UEFA EURO will be calculated as a percentage of the total gross revenue. Clubs will receive 8% of income from broadcast, commercial and ticketing/hospitality, with the minimum set at €200m, a €50m increase on the clubs' share of UEFA EURO 2016 revenue.
FIFA WORLD CUP CLUB BENEFITS
As part of an agreement between ECA and FIFA signed in 2008, FIFA allocates an amount from the benefits of the FIFA World Cup to clubs to recognise the important part they play in the success of the tournament. The agreed provisions set aside were $40m for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and $70m for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The payments are distributed via the National Associations to the clubs of the players who participated in the final competition.
Distribution Mechanism
Unlike the latest UEFA agreement for UEFA EURO, the distribution mechanism for the FIFA World Cup only benefits clubs releasing players to the final tournament.
At the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, 396 clubs affiliated to 57 different National Associations from around the globe received a share of $70m, which was calculated by reference to the number of players from a club who were selected for the tournament and the number of days each player was at the tournament. This period started two weeks before the opening match of the final competition, up until the day after his national team was eliminated. More specifically, the "total amount per player" is calculated by multiplying the number of days a player was present at the 2014 FIFA World Cup by a fixed amount "per player per day", which was set at $2,800. Of the "total amount per player", a pro rata share is then passed on to the club(s) with which a player was registered in the two-year period before the final tournament (i.e. season 2012/13 and 2013/14).
FIFA World Cup 2018 & 2022
Under the agreement with FIFA signed in 2015, the FIFA World Cup Club Benefits almost trebled for the two recent tournaments. For the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, clubs providing players to the final tournament receive a proportional share of $209 million. The distribution mechanism is identical to the method used in 2014 (see above).
For the 2018 FIFA World Cup the “per player per day” amount was $8,530 with 416 clubs from 63 different National Associations benefitting from the Club Benefits Programme. The full list of club payments can be found here.
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup the “per player per day” amount was $10,950 with 440 clubs from 51 National Associations benefitting from the Club Benefits Programme. The full report listing the club payments can be found in the FIFA Club Benefits Programme Report.
