Clubs who did not play are to get solidarity payments
No formula determined for dividing the money
Frustration is growing among clubs globally at the extended wait for £185m of solidarity payments promised by Fifa on the back of last summer’s Club World Cup.
Clubs that did not participate in the tournament were promised a share of the sum, designed to ensure a proportion of the event’s funding was distributed throughout the football pyramid. If shared equally it would amount to about £50,000 for every top-flight club in the world but, more than seven months after the Club World Cup’s conclusion, there is no sign of the money and no timescale for its distribution. The Guardian understands Fifa is yet to determine how the money will be allocated.
There is no suggestion that the windfall will go unpaid but clubs in smaller leagues are growing particularly impatient. The £740m set aside as prize money is understood to have been released; the winners, Chelsea, are thought to have earned about £84m. In comparison the solidarity sum may seem a drop in the ocean but, to those in less glamorous settings, the cash injection would make a significant difference.
