ESWATINI CLUBS MISS OUT ON E6.3M BOUNTY

MBABANE – Most clubs from around the world have reasons to look forward to the FIFA World Cup.

The biggest sporting event in the world kicks off in Qatar this coming Sunday. While the biggest beneficiaries will be national teams that will battle it out in the global soccer showpiece, FIFA incentivises selected clubs. These are clubs who release their players to compete in the World Cup. They will be reimbursed financially under FIFA’s Club Benefits Programme. The fund was established in 2010, with a portion of the income set aside solely for clubs that have agreed to participate in the scheme.The amount paid to each participating club per player is determined by two factors; the number of players released to compete in the World Cup and the number of days each player spends at the final tournament, beginning two weeks before the first match and ending a day after the player’s team has been eliminated.

Compensated

Clubs get compensated for all of their players at the World Cup, regardless of whether they play or not. According to information sourced from FIFA, the fund has grown dramatically over the last decade, from E691.2 million in South Africa in 2010 to E1.20 billion in Brazil in 2014. The Club Benefits Programme provided E3.6 billion to clubs during the 2014 World Cup, with a similar amount put aside for this year’s event. A total of 416 clubs from 63 different member organisations will loan out their players for the 2022 World Cup. Clubs will get around E172 600 each day, per player, for the time spent in the competition. If one of its players’ national teams advances to the final, the club can get up to E6.38 million in yesterday’s exchange rate. These are the totals that will be subject to local taxes in the nation where the payments had been made. The payments will go to all clubs the player has played for in the two-year period prior to the World Cup.

Attract

Sought for his expert opinion, Eswatini’s only FIFA-accredited agent Dingane Maduma felt the country needed a complete overhaul before teams could attract players with a potential of playing  in the World Cup. Eswatini does attract players from outside the country but most of them turn out to be average. “We need a five-year plan detailing how we will improve our football. Commercialisation of the game should be part of the bigger plan,” he said. Meanwhile, FIFA confirmed in April this year that the Qatar World Cup champions will receive a record E725. 7 million in prize money.
This is an increase of over E69 million compared to 2018 and continues a trend that has seen the winners’ pay packets increase massively over the past 40 years.

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