Fifa and European Football Clubs (EFC) are close to an agreement that would bring a 50-50 split between sides in Europe and the rest of the world. The fund, set aside to ensure the competition contributes to football’s wider ecosystem, will be distributed once the deal has been ratified. EFC had sought a share of just over 60% , but compromised after Fifa insisted on a more equal global distribution.
A portion of the $125m will be given to all top-division European clubs not involved in the Club World Cup, with amounts varying depending on the number of seasons a side competed at that level between 2021 and 2024. An amount will also go to clubs with the best performance in Uefa club competitions during that period, again provided they did not play in the tournament in the US in 2025. It raises the likelihood of clubs receiving wildly varying payments.
Liverpool, the Champions League runners-up in 2022, would be among those to benefit at the higher end of the scale. EFC will stage its general assembly in Copenhagen on Tuesday and the agreement is likely to be confirmed after approval by the Fifa council, which is scheduled to meet in Zurich on 15 October. Clubs from smaller leagues had grown particularly exasperated at the drawn-out timeline for receiving funds that, in many cases, can present a welcome lifeline.
The Club World Cup winners, Chelsea, have long since benefited from their £84m payout out of the £740m set aside as prize money. EFC threatened Fifa it would not cooperate with future Club World Cups if Gianni Infantino did not withdraw his Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme. In the same letter, EFC said the lack of a solution on Club World Cup solidarity payments was “of serious disappointment to EFC and our member clubs”.
A joint venture between EFC and Fifa, intended to involve managing the commercial side of global club competitions, remains on the table, but is unlikely to be signed in the near future given the turbulence surrounding world football’s leadership. Infantino addressed the EFC general assembly in Rome last year, but a repeat performance is not likely this time given the prospect of a direct encounter with adversaries such as the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin. Infantino spent Monday attempting to boost his standing in Europe by travelling to Riga for the opening of new offices at the Latvian Football Association.
The Fifa secretary general, Mattias Grafström, is expected to be among the delegates in Copenhagen.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
