AFCON: How does the championship prize money compare with other continental competitions
Competitions without prize money even if trophies are as big as the stadia is worthless
By
Olukayode Thomas
In sports, especially football, the era of filling your cabinet with medals, trophies and shields is gone.
The in-thing now is increasing your account balance for players, clubs and countries.
From local leagues to international clubs and national competitions, all tournaments must today have handsome prize money.
Competitions without prize money even if trophies are as big as the stadia where they are played are likely to be snubbed by players, clubs and federations.
Though not the best in the world, the AFCON 2021 which begins in Cameroon on January 9, has prize money that will make continents like Oceania green with envy.
Buoyed by the success of the 2019 edition the prize money for the 2021 AFCON was increased marginally for the winner.
The participating teams will share $16.2m, $2m more than what they shared the last time.
Winner of the 2019 edition Algeria went home with $4.5m, the winner of this edition will get $500,000 more.
Second-placed team in 2019 Senegal received $2.5m in 2019, Nigeria and Tunisia that finished third and fourth respectively received $2m each. They
For quarter-finalists, it’s still the same $800,000.
The increase in prize money is in fulfilment of the promise made by CAF President Patrice Motsepe last year in Yaounde, Cameroon during the draws for the AFCON.
Motsepe said that AFCON is as good as other football competitions around the world and therefore CAF wants to make it “self-sustaining, competitive and exciting”.
Though a more prosperous region of the world, countries participating in AFCON are more rewarded than participants in Concacaf Gold Cup. When the United States of America beat Mexico to win the Concacaf Gold Cup last year they got just $1 million dollars and Mexico the runners-up $500k. The team finished third took home $200k. The fourth-placed team received $150k.
What winner of Copa America gets dwarf what winner of AFCON and Concacaf get. The total prize money for Copa America is $23 Million.
Winner of the championships take home US$10m, runners-up US$5.5m, third place US$3.0m, semi-finalists US$2.5m, and quarter-finalists US$1.5m
Members of the Oceania federation the smallest confederation with a lean budget will wish they are members of any other confederation. With the majority of their citizens in love with rugby, football enjoys lean followership, the continent can’t pay prize money for their championship.
The prize money for the FIFA Arab Cup is $25 million.
For qualifying, countries get $750,000. The winning team get $5 million, runner-ups $3 million, third-place team $2 million.
The European Championships is the most competitive and lucrative of the continental competitions.
At the Euro 2020 played in 2021 UEFA, the continent governing body increased the prize money to $588m -from $482m in 2016.
Italy the winner of the championship and England their opponent in the final got $53m and $48m respectively, the money includes their appearance fee and money for the group stages and the finals.
Semi-finalists got $7,900,000, quarter-finals $5,160,000, round of 16 U$3, 170, 00, group stage win $2,300,000, group stage draw U$1,200,000 and group stage qualification U$14,600,000.
Playing in Euro was also great not just for the countries but also for the players, they get 40% per of what their team earns. The money was distributed to them as bonuses and appearance fees.
Each of the 26 players from Italy that won the Euro got about $790,000) in bonuses.
The ultimate championship in terms of prize money is the FIFA World Cup. For the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the total prize money is $ 700 million.
Each of the 32 participating teams will receive $ 2 million dollars as preparation fee and $10 million for the group stage.
The further they progress in the championships, the more money they get.
The further they progress in the tournament, the more money they get. The eventual winner will go home with $62 million dollars in prize money.
Club sides and national teams will also smile to the banks. FIFA is expected to pay $ 209 million to the clubs for the players to participate in the tournament and $134 million in insurance benefits.
Players in each national team will also have a basic fee and a bonus depending on how far they go in the tournament.
