World Cup 2018: Where money wipes tears
World Cup 2018
By
Japheth Ogila
| Jul 02, 2018
Lionel Messi (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo (R) have all exited the tournament with their teams, Argentina and Portugal respectively. [Photo/Courtesy]
Spanish striker Iago Aspas had his spot kick blocked by Russian goal keeper Igor Akinfeev at Luzhniki Stadium at the full glare of thousands of Spanish fans on Sunday evening.
A poetic commentary by English commentator Peter Drury followed. “For Spain, it is the plane...but this nation will party all night.” Teary Spanish fans stared at their teary and gloomy Spanish players facing the reality of crashing out of the 2018 World Cup.
A star-laden team had been toppled by an average underdog team less talked about. As Sergio Ramos and his teammates catch the plane to Madrid, there are other teams that are nursing the wounds inflicted in Russian soil. Germany, Portugal, Argentina, Nigeria, Senegal and the list goes on.
But under the veil of tearful grimacing faces, adrenaline soaked in heartbreaks summing the gloomy atmosphere is the unnoticed fat paychecks streaming to players. The national federations and clubs that have registered the players are licking their lips for the cash as well.
According to sports website known Total Sportek, world football governing body FIFA has allocated Sh79.1B ($791m) for the tournament organization. The amount has been increased by 40% down from Sh56.4B ($564m) in the past 2014 tournament.
A breakdown into how FIFA spends the money indicates that all the stakeholders of the FIFA World Cup will get at least a pinch of the fortune from the money jar.
The financial expenditure plan scheduled to be used by the FIFA indicates that Sh40B ($ 400m) will be used as the prize money for the competitors derived from all the 32 teams of the tournament.
Compensation is pegged on the performance of the teams, depending on the levels that they are able to reach.
Other expenses include the compensation to the clubs and insurance cover for the players, in case of injuries that are quite inevitable.
Below is a table depicting the expenditure and how the players, clubs and federations will reap from the FIFA 2018 World Cup kitty.
What players earn…
Players look sweaty, frustrated and at times in good mood while on the pitch. But the least said is that most of them are millionaires who are reaping big from the tournament.
A news report published by Mirror recently highlighted the amount that French star Kylian Mbappe earns. Apparently, Mbappe is giving away all he earns to charity- thanks to the World Cup tournament.
Going by his earning standard, a player earns Sh2.256m (£17,000) per game. This amount can be upped by bonus and can change from one stage to the next.
A player whose side braves the fight to lift the World Cup 2018 will pocket Sh35m (£ 265,000) throughout the tournament. It is a game that rewards not only with trophies, individual accolades and goals; but there is a bag of cash to be shared. A game of pain but rich in revenue.