World Cup 2010 Winners prize

Fifa’s general secretary, Jerome Valcke, announced today that the prize money on offer for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa has been increased 61% since World Cup Germany in 2006.

The winners of World Cup 2010 South Africa will receive a total of $31m (£18.7m). The runners-up will get $24m, semi-finalists $20m and the quarter-finalists $18m each. Teams that reach the second round will get $9m and even those eliminated in the group phase will receive $8m. Each team have already received $1m from Fifa towards their “preparation costs”.

The prize money was announced on Robben Island, following an executive committee meeting.

Jerome Valcke has also announced that clubs will also be getting compensation for the use of their players during the World Cup in South Africa.”Every club who has a player at the World Cup will receive $1,600 per day, per player, The money will be paid 15 days before the start of the tournament and to one day after the players’ participation in the World Cup ends.” Said Valcke.

The clubs will be paid by their national football association but as a result of this package, clubs have agreed not to make any claims for any possible compensation through civil courts but only through Fifa or the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The new arrangement, paid out of a $40m fund that will be boosted to $70m for the 2014 tournament in Brazil, will not affect the arrangements that English clubs have with the Football Association.

At the same meeting, the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, said that the Republic of Ireland could receive some sort of “moral compensation” following their controversial elimination from the World Cup.

he said “When it comes to the Ireland match, where all the world has seen this obvious foul play, then we do consider moral compensation for the Football Association of Ireland”.

But Blatter said the compensation would not be financial: “Moral compensation can mean anything from a compliment to a special award or a prize. Financial compensation is not exactly what is perceived in such cases.”