Leeds United and QPR set to benefit most from FIFA reveal | OneFootball

FIFA have paid over $200 million in compensation to clubs for players that went to the 2022 World Cup with QPR and Leeds United the biggest earners in the Championship.

Leeds have received $642,425 (£490k) while the R's have banked $624,174 (£476k).

Championship World Cup break

Qatar 2022 was the first World Cup to be held in the winter, which had a significant impact on the English football schedule.

The Premier League stopped on the 13th of November and didn't restart until the 26th of December while the Championship was paused from the 13th of November until the 9th of December.

League One and League Two fixtures went on as normal despite some clubs losing players.

How was the FIFA World Cup 2022 payout allocated?

FIFA have now paid out over $200 million in compensation, which is split between the 440 clubs whose players went to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar or were involved in qualifying.

The benefits programme rewarded "the clubs that released players, as well as to the clubs with which these players were registered in the two years leading up to the final stage of the FIFA World Cup".

A report released by FIFA outlined how the funds were divided: "The total amount available (USD 209m) is divided by the total number of days that all of the participating players spent at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 (approximately 19,080), which results in an amount of USD 10,950 per player per day (209m divided by 19,080). This amount is then multiplied by the number of days that each player spent at the final competition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, starting from their release for the tournament and ending on the day following the last match of the player’s representative team. It is important to note that it is not relevant whether a player was fielded in any given match; in other words, all of the players from the same representative team end up with the same per player per day amount."

Which EFL clubs received a payout for the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

48 English and Welsh clubs received the FIFA payout, of which 27 are currently in the EFL.

Leeds (£490k) were the biggest earners, closely followed by QPR (£476k) and Southampton, who banked $522,883 (£399k).

The other Championship clubs that received the payout are Stoke City, Reading, Watford, Bristol City, Sunderland, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion, Huddersfield Town, Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Hull City, Cardiff City, and Swansea City.

The League One sides to benefit are Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury Town, Lincoln City, and Wigan Athletic.

While in League Two, Swindon Town, MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon, and Doncaster Rovers all cashed in as well.

In a boost to EFL sides, FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealed that clubs will be due a greater payout for future tournaments.

He said: "Looking ahead, following the renewal of the memorandum of understanding with the European Club Association, the amount redistributed to clubs will further increase from USD 209 million for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup, to USD 355 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments, recognising yet again the importance of the role played by clubs."