In order to further emphasise the significant contribution of clubs to the success of international football, ECA has agreements in place with UEFA and FIFA, which ensure that clubs receive a share of the revenue gained from their respective national team competitions, namely the UEFA EURO and the FIFA World Cup.

UEFA EURO CLUB BENEFITS

As part of an agreement between ECA and UEFA, the European governing body distributes, every four years, an amount from the UEFA EURO to national associations for them to pass on to their clubs which have contributed players to the successful staging of the UEFA EURO. The first tournament concerned was the UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland/Austria where 180 clubs benefitted from €43.5m. In 2012, for the UEFA EURO in Poland/Ukraine, 575 clubs benefitted from an amount of €55m. The available amount for club distribution was further increased for the UEFA EURO 2016 in France to €150m. 

Distribution Mechanism

The latest agreement in place with UEFA rewards not only clubs that have released players to the final tournament, but also foresees benefits for any club that has released a player during the qualification phase (EURO qualifiers). For the UEFA EURO 2016, the total amount (€150m) was split between the qualification phase (€50m) and the final tournament (€100m).

Qualification Phase

For the EURO qualifiers, the concept is to reward the actual release of the players. Each club that released a player to the national team for a qualifying match (incl. play-offs) receives a fixed amount per player per match. Only players who were listed on the official match sheet (max. 23 players) are taken into account.

Average amount per player per match:

  • National teams that played 12 matches: € 3’536
  • National teams that played 10 matches: € 4’307

In all cases, the clubs to benefit from these payments are those with which the players concerned were registered when the qualifier or friendly in question took place. NB: as the national team of France did not play any qualifying matches, the ten centralised friendly matches are taken into account.

Final Tournament

For the final tournament, the total amount is broken down into a fixed amount per player per day - starting 14 days before the first match of the respective national team and finishing the day after the national team’s last match in the final tournament. This amount varies in compliance with the rationale of the FIFA training compensation categorisation per country in order to better reflect the different levels of player remuneration.

Amount per player per day:

  • Category 1 Club: € 7’231
  • Category 2 Club: € 4’821
  • Category 3 Club: € 2’410

In all cases, the clubs to benefit from these payments are those with which the players concerned were registered during the relevant release period. As for the qualifying competition, only players released by a club belonging to a UEFA member association are taken into account.

UEFA EURO 2020

For the first time, at the 2020 tournament, the clubs' financial benefits from UEFA EURO will be calculated as a percentage of the total gross revenue. Clubs will receive 8% of income from broadcast, commercial and ticketing/hospitality, with the minimum set at €200m, a €50m increase on the clubs' share of UEFA EURO 2016 revenue.

FIFA WORLD CUP CLUB BENEFITS

As part of an agreement between ECA and FIFA signed in 2008, FIFA allocates an amount from the benefits of the FIFA World Cup to clubs in order to recognise the important part they play in the success of the tournament. The agreed provisions set aside were $40m for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and $70m for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The payments are distributed via the National Associations to the clubs of the players who participated in the final competition.

Distribution Mechanism

Unlike the latest UEFA agreement for the UEFA EURO, the distribution mechanism for the FIFA World Cup only benefits clubs releasing players to the final tournament.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, 396 clubs affiliated to 57 different National Associations from around the globe received a share of $70m, which was calculated by reference to the number of players from a club who were selected for the tournament and the number of days each player was at the tournament. This period started two weeks before the opening match of the final competition, up until the day after his national team was eliminated. More specifically, the "total amount per player" is calculated by multiplying the number of days a player was present at the 2014 FIFA World Cup by a fixed amount "per player per day", which was set at $2,800. Of the "total amount per player", a pro rata share is then passed on to the club(s) with which a player was registered in the two year period before the final tournament (i.e. season 2012/13 and 2013/14).

FIFA World Cup 2018 & 2022

Under a new agreement with FIFA signed in 2015, the FIFA World Cup club benefits will almost treble for the two upcoming tournaments. For the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, every club which supplies players for the tournament will receive a proportional share of $209 million. The distribution mechanism will be identical to the method used in 2014. For more information on the FIFA World Cup 2018 Club Benefits Programme, please see the official leaflet developed by FIFA.