Clubs left fuming as FIFA yet to pay $250m Club World Cup windfall one year on

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FT Desk

Football teams that didn't receive an invite to the Club World Cup last summer were naturally left angry that they could be left behind financially by the clubs that were invited to participate in the tournament.

With a prize pot of $1 billion (around €850m) available at the Club World Cup, it was an extremely lucrative competition for those involved - especially eventual winners, Chelsea.

The teams invited were given a summer cash injection that most other clubs around the world didn't receive.

FIFA's aim to combat this was to keep a $250m kitty to spread among every top-flight team in the world that did not play in the tournament.

Chelsea 🆚 PSG#FIFACWC pic.twitter.com/FfB5cdxffZ

— FIFA Club Football (@FIFACF) July 14, 2025

If shared equally, that works out at just £50,000 per team.

Over a year after the conclusion of the Club World Cup, no team has received any funds and the Times reports that FIFA has still not decided how the money will be allocated.

Clubs in bigger leagues aren't sweating over the payment but those is lower-ranked leagues are becoming frustrated.

"An executive from one of Europe’s smaller leagues told the Guardian in February there had been no clear answers about when their clubs will be paid despite continued inquiries," the outlet reports.

"In environments where domestic television rights deals are increasingly precarious, and in certain cases nonexistent, a five-figure windfall has the potential to be a lifeline."

A source from the Union of European Clubs (UEC), which represents more than 140 non-elite clubs around Europe, said: “UEC as an organisation has not heard anything and no member clubs we have consulted with have heard anything either."

The Times reports that 50 clubs have contacted European Football Clubs (EFC), the representative organisation for European sides, claiming that no funds have been received despite FIFA's earlier promises.

The latest update on this saga comes the same week as the President of the Jordan Football Association claiming that his country is yet to receive participation money for appearing in the Arab Cup final in December.

Host cities from the 2026 World Cup are also waiting on $1m solidarity payments that were promised.

Club World Cup payments

Clubs that did participate in the tournament have already been paid.

Chelsea’s win over PSG means they earned roughly €97m (£84m) through Club World Cup prize money.

The Blues earned a participation fee of €24.6m, while they made an additional €72.4m through performance prize money.

Their earnings were unsurprisingly the highest of any participating club, with runners-up PSG making roughly €90.5m.

An amount of $525m was awarded to all clubs for participation and $475m was awarded depending on how far a team progressed in the tournament.