‘The ripple effects of missing out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has yet come to the fore as the world soccer ruling body begins sharing some $209 million USD in its Club Benefits Programme, NationSports can exclusively report.
Established ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa with a provision made in the institutional agreement signed between FIFA and the European Club Association, the Club Benefits Programme is an initiative that was designed to recognise the contribution that football clubs make in the successful staging of the FIFA World Cup.
According to FIFA, the CBF ensures that clubs are financially rewarded with a share of the benefits from the tournament. This amount is subsequently distributed through the member associations to clubs that released the participating players.
“As part of its commitment to recognising the contribution that football clubs make to the successful staging of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Club Benefits Programme will see USD 209 million distributed to clubs across the world,” FIFA noted.
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Nigeria failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 consequently no Nigerian club would benefit from this money even as the five African representatives at the tournament would share a record $55 million USD- the highest by any of the FIFA’s confederations.
In a figure due to be released this week , our correspondent gathered that two North African countries Tunisia and Morocco that featured few home-based players in their World Cup squad are the biggest continental beneficiaries from the FIFA largesse.
While five clubs from Tunisia would share between them $1.4 million USD, two Moroccan clubs would equally share some $1.4 million USD.
Other African countries captured in the CBF include Egypt where two clubs would share $ 650,638 USD; five clubs in Ghana will also get $565,772 USD .
Three clubs in Cameroon will also share $401, 515 USD while Senegal that included one local player in their Qatar 2022 World Cup got the least- $20,075 USD.
“ The report of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme is ready and it’s painful that no Nigerian club will get from the post Qatar 2022 World cup largesse since we failed to make the mundial,” a decent source privy to the figures told NationSport on anonymity.“ Of all the FIFA Confederations, Africa made almost $55 million USD from the Club Benefits Programme, but unfortunately Nigeria is not listed as it were.”