Spanish Super Cup: Perez to give Madrid players €4 million if they beat Barca as RFEF banks €40 million from Saudi Arabia

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has promised the club’s stars a hefty bonus payment, as an incentive for getting the better of Barcelona this weekend.

The latest showdown between Spanish football’s two biggest clubs, of course, is set to play out on Sunday night.

This comes as Real and Barca prepare to lock horns in the finale of the Supercopa de España.

The winners will secure for themselves the first available silverware of the campaign in Spain, alongside crucial Clásico bragging rights.

As alluded to above, though, this is not all that will be on the line for those on the Real side of the Clásico divide.

In addition, Carlo Ancelotti’s squad has been promised a considerable cash bonus, should they ultimately emerge on the right side of the result in Riyadh.

That’s according to Defensa Central, as cited by Sport, who have revealed that Florentino Pérez has agreed to fork out €150,000 to every member of Real’s playing and coaching staff alike.

This equates to a total of around €4 million, half of the sum set to be pocketed by Los Blancos in the case of victory in the Super Cup showpiece.

The winner of the Spanish Super Cup, which has been played in Saudi Arabia in four of the five years since the competition’s expansion from two to four teams, will be paid €2 million ($2.19 million). The runner-up, meanwhile, will pocket €1 million ($1.1 million).

On top of these amounts, Super Cup appearance fees are paid to each of the tournament’s participants, regardless of their performance.

This has been a controversial topic ever since the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) agreed on a lucrative deal with the Saudi government to move the tournament to the Gulf region in 2020. Spanish Super Cup appearance money is, in theory, distributed based on sporting criteria (trophies won) and the prestige of the clubs involved, which is calculated according to television rights and ratings.

In the first edition of the four-team tournament, Valencia lodged an official complaint against the RFEF after picking up €2.5 million ($2.64 million), significantly less than both Barcelona (€6 million/$6.57 million) and Real Madrid (just under €12 million/$13.14 million).

As has been the case for previous “Middle Eastern” Super Cups, Saudi Arabia are paying the RFEF €40 million ($43.8 million) for the privilege of hosting. The federation then decides how the money is divided up, according to the criteria mentioned.

For simply taking part in this year’s edition, Madrid and Barça are expected to take home €6 million ($6.57 million) each, with Atlético picking up €3 million ($3.29 million) and Osasuna just over €800,000 ($876,000). The federation has, however, reached an agreement with the two Madrid clubs and the Catalans for them to give last season’s Copa del Rey runners-up an extra €200,000 ($219,000) each.