GENEVA (AP) — The European football team signed a new working contract with FIFA on Monday after securing a 70% increase in its share of World Cup revenues for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments.
The European Club Association (ECA) has announced that it has renewed its work contract with FIFA until 2030. This could also lead the team to manage commercial deals for the renewal of the FIFA World Cup scheduled to start in 2025.
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Part of the deal, which failed to reach its goal of being signed at the World Cup in Qatar in December, will see teams around the world share in $355 million in FIFA revenue for each next edition of the FIFA World Cup. FIFA has budgeted conservatively, aiming to make at least $11 billion between 2023 and 2026.
Teams shared $209 million each in the 2018 and 2022 editions, paid as a per diem for the time players spent with the national team.
FIFA’s 70% increase will match a 50% increase in the number of players in the 2026 World Cup, with 48 teams participating for the first time instead of 32.
The Memorandum of Understanding was agreed within the framework of the ECA’s biannual meetings in Budapest, Hungary. ECA president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Qatar Paris Saint-Germain president and FIFA president Gianni Infantino negotiated.
The deal promises some stability in the sometimes volatile world of football politics, and requires teams to adhere to the national team’s match and tournament schedules administered by FIFA.
The schedule mandating when teams must release players called up to the national team was confirmed and announced by FIFA at a conference in Rwanda two weeks ago.
FIFA and ECA will work together on an updated version of the 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held every four years from 2025. With 12 European teams participating, it was essential to ensure cooperation with Europe.
The format, broadcast and sponsorship details of the tournament have yet to be determined.
Real Madrid and Chelsea have already qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup as two-time Champions League champions.
The next two Champions League winners will also get their place. UEFA team rankings will determine other tickets with a quota of two teams per country.
The association was founded in 2008 and was created in a peace agreement with FIFA and UEFA to close the G14 elite group of historic clubs and pursue pending litigation. The new group gained recognition in exchange for payments from earnings from World Cup and European Championship tournaments in exchange for giving it a more democratic voice.
The ECA’s membership is expected to increase from 240 to 330, Al-Khelaifi said on Monday. Seats on the board were also reserved for women’s clubs.
These moves follow a possible challenge to the ECA’s status as sole representative of the European Association of Clubs teams. It announced its launch last year to give lower-tier clubs a greater say.
