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Eagle-eyed Andrew Das spotted an interesting news tidbit this week: FIFA’s compensation to clubs that had players at the 2018 World Cup.
FIFA releases list of club payouts from the World Cup. Biggest cuts go to Man City, Chelsea, Spurs, Madrid, etc. But more than half the clubs in MLS got a check too. https://t.co/QaP4VV1Rm1 pic.twitter.com/hf6JPSKbGY
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) December 4, 2018
The New York Red Bulls’ share of FIFA’s World Cup bounty is $382,050 - certainly a lot better than nothing at all.
The payment comes from FIFA’s “Club Benefits Programme”, which distributes a share of the proceeds from the World Cup to clubs that have players participating in the tournament. The programme’s benefits have risen substantially: FIFA reported the fund for clubs was worth $40 million at the 2010 World Cup, rose to $70 million for the 2014 tournament, and is $209 million for the 2018 competition.
Clubs have to request to be included in the programme - so someone at RBNY knew this was coming because they asked for it.
Payments are based on the number of players from a given club that are selected to a World Cup squad and the amount of time that squad spends at the tournament. Playing time is not a consideration. Clubs can receive payments if they had a World Cup player on their books up to two years prior to the tournament.
In RBNY’s case, this payment comes largely from Panama: Michael Murillo and Fidel Escobar played for Los Canaleros at the 2018 World Cup.
No word yet from RBNY or MLS as to what happens to this windfall. It’s surely not going to be permitted to be put toward the club’s salary budget, but doubtless the Red Bulls can find some use for close to $400,000.