FIFA have announced a huge 75 per cent increase to their Club Benefit Programme that pays clubs for releasing their players during the World Cup internationals. The new amount now sits at $355million [£290million] to distribute across the globe as preparations begin for the 2026 version of the tournament.
The competition is set to be hosted in north America between Canada, Mexico and the United States, boasting an expanded format from 30 teams to 48. This will increase the number of matches from 64 to 104, with the change resulting in the inflation of the programme designed to incentivise the release of players for international games.
Over the course of the previous World Cup in November and December of last year, a number of teams received compensation in the millions for their squad's involvement. The Daily Mail reports that Manchester City benefitted the most with as much as £4.5million hitting their pockets through their 16 players on duty.
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London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all join Manchester United in the top five from the English division. The Blues are said to have earned £2.46million, beating the Gunners' £2.1million and Spurs' £2.32million in total as all three sides had more than ten representatives in the competition.
With such an increase in the pool for 2026, but more nations and teams to distribute it amongst, it remains to be seen how the money will be divided. However, it seems as though it is set to be a boost for those sides that they will start to receive from the qualifiers in 2025 onwards.
A statement from FIFA reads: "The Club Benefits Programme, which compensates all clubs who release players for the men's World Cup, will now increase from $209 million for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup to $355 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments."
While FIFA president Gianni Infantino added: "This is a significant day for the future of football and its long-term stability. We are very happy to renew and strengthen our cooperation agreement with ECA, an important stakeholder representing clubs from all over Europe."
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