Congress in Vancouver is coming up
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After criticism from Germany and other World Cup participants, FIFA has announced an increase in bonuses for the XXL tournament in the summer. Two days before the World Football Association’s congress in Vancouver next Thursday, the FIFA Council will already be dealing with the issue.
“FIFA confirms that it is in discussions with associations worldwide to increase available revenue,” a FIFA spokesman told the English newspaper The Guardian. “This includes a proposed increase in financial contributions to all qualified teams for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as well as development funds for all 211 member associations,” FIFA said.
The German Football Association (DFB) also recently criticized the World Cup bonus regulations as inadequate. The future world champion will receive a record sum of 50 million dollars for winning the title. And the total pot is also fuller than ever before, at $727 million. But: In fact, the payouts decrease for most teams that do not win the golden World Cup trophy.
“It is always suggested that there will always be more and bigger when it comes to the total bonuses, but you must not forget that the cake is also divided by 48,” said DFB managing director Andreas Rettig. There will be 16 more teams taking part in the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada than in the last tournament in 2022. For the vast majority of teams there will be lower bonuses compared to the Qatar World Cup.
The DFB can also plan quickly from FIFA with $1.5 million for preparation costs and $9 million entry fee. The situation is exacerbated by the uncertainty of the fluctuating dollar exchange rate and the different taxation of profits in different US states. This is causing the DFB “really discomfort,” said Rettig.
