Barcelona pocket €4.06 million from FIFA for releasing players for the 2022 World Cup

Barcelona have received a sum of €4.06 million ($4.5 million) from FIFA for releasing their players to participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar during the last season, reports Mundo Deportivo.

FIFA have an aid program for clubs in place as part of which they pay out some percentage of the profits received from the World Cup to teams that released their players to participate in the tournament.

The FIFA Club Aid Program is part of the agreement signed between football’s governing body chaired by Gianni Infantino and the European Club Association (ECA). The agreement was extended until 2030 at the ECA General Assembly held in Budapest earlier this year.

And as part of it, Barcelona have received a payout worth €4.06 million from FIFA for allowing the club’s players to travel and take part in the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Only Manchester City have received a higher payout from the governing body than the Blaugrana, with the Premier League champions raking in €4.11 million.

Bayern Munich come in third with a payout of €3.88 million while Real Madrid occupy the fourth spot with €3.43 million.

Barcelona had as many as 17 players representing them at the World Cup, with Spain having the largest number of the Blaugrana stars in their squad.

Indeed, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Balde, Jordi Alba, Pedri, Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Ansu Fati, and Ferran Torres were part of the La Roja roster at the World Cup in Qatar. Meanwhile, Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele were with the France squad.

Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay (now of Atletico Madrid) were representing the Netherlands while Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Ronald Araujo (Uruguay), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany), and Raphinha (Brazil) were also involved.