World governing body of football FIFA has increased its payments to clubs for the release of players for each of the next two men’s World Cups to £298.74m.
For proper context, clubs received a combined £170.58m for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,.
This move is the central component of a new Memorandum of Understanding between FIFA and the European Clubs’ Association, which will run to 2030.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin were present at the ECA general assembly in Budapest for the announcement.
This ends the months of bickering between the two bodies who had initially been at loggerheads over Infantino’s desire to host a biennial World Cup, an idea that was met with huge opposition.
Agreement has also been reached over the concept of a Women’s Club World Cup, although the format of this is still to be decided.
In addition, the ECA has backed FIFA’s plan for a player welfare taskforce, which players’ union FIFPro believes is essential.