UEFA to pay clubs for players released during Euro 2012

UEFA will share 100 million euros (79.7 million pounds) among the clubs who released players for the Euro 2012 football finals and qualifying competition, the European Clubs Association (ECA) said on Tuesday. The amounts range from 3.095 million euros in the case of Bayern Munich to a more modest 3,494 euros for English lower-tier club Barnsley, Finland’s Jyvaskyla and Turkey’s Bucaspor. [caption id=“attachment_453477” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Clubs are rewarded for each player called up by a national team. Reuters[/caption] A total of 575 clubs will benefit from the so-called solidarity payments which are regarded as a form of compensation for the time players spend away from their clubs when they represent their country. It follows an agreement between UEFA and ECA, which represents around 200 European clubs, signed in March. The other top beneficiaries were Real Madrid (2.996 million euros), Barcelona (2.210 million), Manchester City (2.069 million) and Juventus (2.023 million). Inter Milan, whose squad are largely made up of South American players, received a modest 301,445 euros, less than the Czech Republic’s Viktoria Plzen, who received 465,390. FC Vaduz, who supply the bulk of the Liechtenstein national side and play in the Swiss second division, were rewarded with 209,644 euros, more than Bundesliga clubs Eintracht Frankfurt, Fortuna Duesseldorf, Freiburg and Hoffenheim. Clubs are rewarded for each player called up by a national team with the exact amount depending on how long the player spends with the team and other factors. Different scales of payments were used for the qualifying competition and final tournament. “I am delighted that we are able to provide clubs with financial benefits from UEFA Euro 2012 to reward their contribution to the competition,” said UEFA president Michel Platini. “We witnessed a truly fantastic UEFA European Football Championship final this summer, and I am pleased that the clubs can now also be associated with the event.” Reuters