Manchester City receive biggest payout for releasing players for 2022 World Cup
Manchester City received $4.6m (£3.51m), the biggest payout of any club, for releasing players for last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
City’s compensation from world governing body Fifa narrowly beat Barcelona’s $4.54m and the $4.33m paid to Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, who both received $3.84m, completed a top five monopolised by leading European clubs.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ajax were next with $3.50m, more than Manchester United ($3.33m) and Chelsea ($3.26m).
They were closely followed by Atletico Madrid ($3.23m) and Juventus ($3.05m).
European teams received $159m, 76 per cent of the total $209m distributed by Fifa for releasing players for the 2022 World Cup.
English clubs were the biggest beneficiaries, banking $37.7m — just shy of the combined payouts to all teams from Asia and Concacaf, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean.
A total of 47 English clubs were paid compensation, from Premier League champions City down to Wimbledon in League Two.
After City, United and Chelsea, the next highest earning Premier League teams were Tottenham ($2.83m) and Liverpool ($2.41m).
Top 10 clubs for 2022 World Cup compensation
- $4.60m Man City
- $4.54m Barcelona
- $4.33m Bayern Munich
- $3.84m Real Madrid
- $3.84m PSG
- $3.50m Ajax
- $3.33m Man United
- $3.26m Chelsea
- $3.23m Atletico Madrid
- $3.05m Juventus