Chelsea and Man City in line for £60m boost after FIFA agreement struck

Manchester City and Chelsea could pocket up to £60million for their involvement in the revamped Club World Cup, following FIFA’s lucrative broadcast rights agreement with DAZN.

The two Premier League clubs are the only English teams to have qualified for the tournament, thanks to their Champions League triumphs in 2023 and 2021 respectively.

This year, the competition has been expanded from seven to 32 teams and is scheduled for June and July next year. City will compete in Group G alongside Juventus of Italy, Morocco’s Wydad AC and Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates.

Chelsea, on the other hand, will face Brazil’s Flamengo, Mexican Club Leon and Esperance Sportive from Tunisia in Group D. As per the Daily Mail, City and Chelsea have been informed they could earn between £50m and £60m for participating in the Club World Cup, following FIFA’s $1billion deal with streaming giant DAZN.

It’s reported that the major European clubs will receive more broadcast money than other clubs, while the Football Association stands to gain from a solidarity fund which will benefit the governing bodies of all 32 participating clubs.

The report further states that clubs were briefed about the financial rewards at a meeting prior to the draw, which could potentially cause issues for City and Chelsea’s rivals, who ‘will be fortunate to make around 10 per cent of £60m’ from their summer tours overseas.

Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations are dramatically influencing transfer market dynamics, and clubs could perceive Chelsea and City’s money boost as an unfair advantage.

City manager Pep Guardiola, despite the significant prize money up for grabs, has levied criticism at the tournament amid growing fears over player burnout. FIFA introduced regulations requiring clubs to play their strongest teams “throughout the tournament”, which has sparked further discontent from Guardiola.

“What is the strongest players? Which ones? FIFA will tell me for them which players are stronger than the other ones? I don’t understand that,” he vented earlier this season. “We will go all the squad there.

“We don’t go for one game, right? So I don’t know who is the competition itself right now, but we’re not going with 11 players, we’re going with the whole squad. I don’t understand how the selection of players is ‘stronger’ than other ones? I know!

“Stronger means in-form, and maybe the strongest for them is in really, really, really bad conditions! For many reasons; personal, physical, injuries, niggles, and we’re going to play other ones. I’m not going to be told before the games which players are going to play, I will decide, for sure!”