World football governing body, FIFA, on Friday, announced that the 32 national teams competing at the 2018 World Cup will share $400 million in prize money, representing a 12 per cent increase from the 2014 tournament.
The prize money at the previous edition in Brazil was $358 million of which $35 million was awarded to champions Germany, while runners-up, Argentina, pocketed $25 million.
By contrast, countries who failed to advance beyond the group stage received $8 million.
At a meeting of the FIFA council in Kolkata, FIFA also approved a decision to enhance the bidding regulations for the 2026 World Cup and appointed members of the bid evaluation task force.
Dates for several upcoming FIFA tournaments, including next year’s Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, were also confirmed.
The 2018 Club World Cup will run from Dec 12 to 22, while the Women’s World Cup in 2019 is scheduled to start on June 7 with the final to take place on July 7.
Meanwhile, FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, said it could replace the Club World Cup with a new world club competition as he confirmed that FIFA will officially recognise as world club champions the winners of the old Intercontinental Cup dating back to 1960.
“The current Club World Cup is a nice competition but it has not really had the impact that was hoped in development of club football around the world,” he told a media conference following a council meeting.
“We have to see if we can come up with something special, something new which will help club football and confederations all around the world.
“When Fifa organises a competition, it should be something special, so either we find a special tournament or we’d rather not do it.”
