Football clubs from around the world are in for a big payday for their respective national team players.
Governing body FIFA has confirmed that clubs that have contributed players to national teams will share in USD 355 million (R6.1 billion).
For the first time, the FIFA Club Benefits Programme will directly reward all clubs releasing players for the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
“As per the renewed memorandum of understanding signed by FIFA and the European Club Association (ECA) in March 2023, clubs who release players for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will benefit from USD 355 million overall,” announced FIFA.
“For the first time since its inception, the CBP distribution principles have been adjusted to now allow every club whose players directly feature either in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers or the final tournament to receive a share of the solidarity fund. This new approach means that any club that releases a player for a FIFA World Cup qualifier will now be directly compensated for said release, irrespective of whether the player plays at the final tournament, an additional step to increase solidarity aimed at providing a fairer and more inclusive redistribution across global club football.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino had this to say: “The enhanced edition of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is going a step further by recognizing 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.
“This reinforces our solid collaboration with the European Club Association and clubs worldwide as we all look forward to a groundbreaking and globally inclusive edition of the FIFA World Cup next year.”
With regard to Bafana Bafana, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates will take the lion’s share, as their players dominate South Africa’s senior national team.
Further details on the CBP distribution model will be provided in due course, including the registration process for clubs to submit their application.
The fourth edition of the CBP, which was implemented for the FIFA World Cup 2022, saw USD 209 million (R3.6 billion) distributed among 440 clubs from 51 FIFA Member Associations across all six confederations.
