The cost to Fifa of having to reschedule the 2022 World Cup in Qatar edged up again this morning with the news that, as expected, the game's leading clubs had won considerable concessions from the federation as compensation for the disruption that will be caused, mainly to the big European leagues.
The European Club Association, which represents most of the world's richest and most powerful sides, had previously made it clear that it would be looking for a significantly improved financial package as a result of the switch to a winter time World Cup and it has secured that with the two organisations announcing this morning that clubs whose players participate in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments will share just about €200 million on each occasion; almost precisely three times what was paid out last year.
Perhaps as importantly, however, the ECA has won the right to be consulted and effectively veto any changes to Fifa’s international match calendar which has long been a major bone of contention between the two strands of the game.
In addition, the Club Protection Programme, essentially a wide-ranging insurance scheme to cover clubs against their players being injured while on international duty, which was itself the product of a protracted dispute several years ago, has been extended to cover both events. It will also now apply to women’s football.
Both organisations hailed the agreement as a mutually beneficial positive outcome although it is hard to see it as anything other than a major victory for the clubs who found themselves with a very strong hand as they entered talks given Fifa’s need to deliver an agreement because of the mess it found itself over Qatar.
Sepp Blatter is said in Fifa's media release to have described the deal as a "huge step forward," and the organisation is at pains to stress what it sees as the wider benefits of an agreement that "puts an emphasis on fundamental principles such as the promotion of training and player development as well as the sporting integrity of the competitions".
The sense of victory, however, is clear in the clubs’ statement. “The seven-year agreement includes benefits that go beyond the financial,” it says. “The ECA now has a mandate to promote clubs’ interests at FIFA level and develop a collaborative working relationship with FIFA.
“For example, the ECA secured a direct say on the international match calendar - changes thereto will have to be jointly discussed and agreed. Furthermore, the Club Protection Programme remains in force and will in the future also cover international women’s football.”
ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is quoted as saying: “For the first time, the European clubs will have a direct say on the international match calendar. As a result, the ECA will be actively involved and contribute constructively to the design of the calendar, especially for 2022. Moreover, the World Cup club benefits will triple from $70m to $209m for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022. From an ECA perspective, this agreement is a great achievement.”
The agreement comes after Fifa has already agreed to award some of the broadcast rights to the 2026 World Cup without a tendering process in order to placate rights holders in the Americas to 2022 who believed that the switch to winter would cause them problems due to a clash with US based sports, especially the NFL.
Other broadcasters and some sponsors are also expected to extract concessions as the fallout from a bidding process and that was dogged by widespread allegations as well as a number of confirmed reports of corruption. Blatter, meanwhile, is up for re-election at the start of the summer.
