FIFA is paying out more than $100 million in extra cash to World Cup teams to help cover higher-than-expected costs of being in North America.
FIFA’s ruling council agreed Tuesday to increase the basic payments to each federation by $2 million to a minimum of $12.5 million. The governing body is expecting revenue of at least $11 billion for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico that starts June 11.
Some of the 48 federations, especially from Europe, told FIFA that the prize money structure and payments for preparation costs that had been set last year would see them lose money on the tournament unless their team went deep into the knockout rounds.
Teams playing games in the United States also face some tax obligations that are exempted in Canada and Mexico.
The financial support for pre-tournament training and expenses will now rise to $2.5 million from $1.5 million and each federation gets a $1 million raise in basic prize money to $10 million, the FIFA Council agreed at a meeting in World Cup host city Vancouver.
The total prize money fund of $655 million that was announced in December is set to give $50 million to the eventual champion.
Argentina’s federation got $42 million in prize money for winning the 2022 tournament in Qatar. That 32-team edition had a total prize fund of $440 million.
FIFA said it will also allocate an extra $16 million in “subsidies for team delegation costs” and giving more tickets to each federation for its games.
Under the World Cup regulations, FIFA is already obliged to pay for business‑class return flights for each federation to travel to the tournament plus board and lodging for a 50-person delegation. The hotel payments start five nights before a team’s first game and one night after it is eliminated.
FIFA also covers the cost of domestic travel for up to 50 delegation members, and “a dedicated fleet of vehicles, including an equipment truck.”
The soccer federations of World Cup teams must pay for “adequate insurance … including but not limited to injury, accident, disease and travel,” plus “incidental hotel costs” and housing additional members of a delegation.-AP
