Remember back when Juventus first qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup and everybody was basically telling us that it was going to be a huge financial boon for all parties involved? I do, because I kinda bought it hook, line and sinker because you figured FIFA wouldn’t be doing such a thing if it wasn’t for a big paycheck once everything was settled.
So much for that, it seems.
According to a report from Calcio e Finanza, the base level of prize money that each club is potentially getting is nowhere close to the €50 million figure we heard about when Juventus first qualified for the summer tournament that will take place in the United States. Rather than said €50 million that we originally were led to believe Juve and other clubs in the Club World Cup might get, that figure is believed to be closer to €15 million or €18 million, according to Calcio e Finanza. That number might go up to €25 million if Juve are to get out of the CWC group stage and receive the same types of bonuses, with it unclear what it could go up to as clubs go deeper in the tournament.
FIFA, who secured a broadcast deal with online platform DAZN for an unknown fee, have yet announced the official prize money pots for the 32 participating clubs. However, if they end up being much lower than the original figures that were reported, you have to wonder if an actual announcement would even arrive.
When Juventus’ participation in the Club World Cup was first secured late last season, much of the talk was about the massive bag of prize money that will help the club during a time in which they are trying to bring down payroll costs and, in the words of many front office members, become much more sustainable in the long term. Competing in a summer tournament of the glorified friendly variety and making a boatload of cash on top of it?
It sounded a little too good to be true.
Because it is proving to be just that.
Sure, getting a nice haul of Club World Cup knockout round money will be a nice addition to the total of €15 million or so that Juve get as a initial participation fee. But sure as heck isn’t going to be the €50 million that was being floated out there for weeks, if not months, before there were signs around the time the Club World Cup draw took place that started to tell us that big of a payout probably wasn’t going to be the case.
Either way, Juventus are less than four months away from flying across the Atlantic and opening up their Club World Cup group stage schedule against Al Ain FC. How much money they’ll get out of it all still seems like somewhat of an unknown, too.
