The UEFA governing body released the full breakdown of their Club Benefit Scheme for both professional and amateur players, which has seen clubs across Europe being handed out money for loaning their players for international commitments.
These international commitments include the loan revenue for Euro 2024, its qualifying rounds, and the 2020-21 and 2022-23 Nations League. Understandably, FC Barcelona had significant representation in all these competitions and were handed out a significant chunk.
As revealed by Mundo Deportivo, FC Barcelona is the second-highest grossing Spanish club in terms of player loan revenue with €4,427,692.75. This figure is only bettered by their league rivals Real Madrid, who are earning around €4,786,036.31 from the scheme.
The report mentions that a total of €233 million has been distributed to 901 clubs from the 55 federations belonging to the governing body, which also represents an increase of €33 million compared to the previous cycle.
Of the €233 million, €140 million corresponds to the loan of players during last summer’s Euros that took place in Germany, which Spain eventually won. Interestingly, the third highest-grossing Spanish team isn’t Atletico Madrid, as one would suppose, but rather Real Sociedad, who have shaded them by a minuscule amount.
The UEFA governing body is responsible for compensating club teams for international commitments and is also responsible for paying clubs in their federation in case a player gets injured during an international commitment, subject to certain restrictions.
For example, Barcelona midfield star Pedri suffered a horrific injury during the Euros last summer against Germany after being on the receiving end of a reckless challenge from Toni Kroos, and it was estimated that the Catalan club would be earning around €349,516 as per the initial prognosis.
Speaking about UEFA and matches on the horizon, the Champions League semi-finals are right around the corner with two mouth-watering games in store for everyone. Barcelona are set to take on Inter Milan in one of the encounters, with PSG facing Arsenal in the other. Here, you can find Betway’s latest Champions League betting odds.
With the non-stop football that keeps the players occupied these days, it is good to see UEFA fairly compensate clubs for loaning out players in the midst of club commitments, but they have to do something about the calendar schedule going forward.
It is not sustainable to have the number of games that is currently crammed into a season, and the rise in the number of injuries over the past couple of seasons should prove to be a reason for them to revisit the same. Let’s wait and see how it plays out.