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UEFA increase funding for clubs releasing players for Women's Euros
Women's clubs who have released players for the summer's European Championships in Switzerland will receive a larger portion of funding after UEFA's club benefits programme was increased to €9 million following a recommendation from the European Club Association.
The club benefits programme, agreed between the ECA and UEFA, rewards clubs for releasing players to UEFA national team competitions.
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The funding for Euro 2022 totalled €4.5million (around £3.84m) and was initially intended to increase to €6m. However, an extra €3m has since been added from the men's 2020/24 club benefit cycle, following a proposal from the ECA.
The total amount a club is afforded, according to UEFA, is calculated by the number of days a player is released for tournament participation, as well as 10 preparation days and one additional travel day. A club is compensated at a rate of €657 per day per player. The minimum payment a club will receive is €13,140 for a player whose team is eliminated after the group stages. The maximum amount will be €24,309 for a player from a team that was in Group A and reached the final. Injury to a player or a transfer to a new club will see clubs receive a pro rata payment.
On the increase of the club benefits programme, UEFA's head of women's football Nadine Kessler said on a media panel on Friday: 'We do this investment because we know of the symbolic meaning of prize money and because these mechanisms are the very symbol of solidarity. We want everyone who contributes to the success of the Euros to be rewarded. It's a tournament that belongs to everyone.'
The increase in club benefits coincides with the record increase in prize money for Euro 2025 to €41m, a 156% increase from the previous Euros held in England. For the first time in women's Euros history, players will receive a guaranteed share of the prize money received by their national association, with between 30% and 40% of funds going to players.
According to Kessler, more than 500,000 tickets have already been sold for the summer's tournament, with 22 of the 31 matches already sold out. Switzerland's largest stadium for the tournament is Basel's St. Jakob-Park, with a capacity of 34,250. By comparison, during England's successful Euro 2022 campaign, 575,000 tickets were sold, with Wembley representing the largest stadium capacity at 90,000.
Despite the increases in prize money and club benefits, Kessler said the women's tournament will represent a €20-25m net loss for UEFA. Euro 2024 generated an estimated €2.41billion in revenue.
When queried on comparisons between the women's and men's tournaments, Kessler said: 'We need to keep comparison to the men's tournament in the past. We increased the women's prize money because we know what it does for public interest and awareness. When I played in these tournaments, there was zero prize money but we still did our best, we wanted to win. That's still the most important thing.'
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The financial increase of UEFA's club benefits programme for women's clubs is hugely important and, as Kessler says, a statement of intent from UEFA and the ECA. While the women's Euros continues to be loss making, the methodology Kessler and others at UEFA are operating on is that without investment across the board, the tournament (and women's football in general) will not become revenue-generating.
Particularly as discourse around crowded fixture calendars and burnout continues, ensuring clubs, and most importantly players, are duly rewarded for their participation in national team events is crucial.
There is always concern, however, that with an increase in funding to clubs with participating players, the gap between those clubs and domestic rivals could increase. In England's 23-member Euro 2025 squad, for example, no clubs outside the established top four clubs in England's Women's Super League (Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City) are represented. More money afforded these sides could help perpetuate the competitive status quo in England's top flight.
However, the flip side is that this is a model that encourages clubs to invest in their women's teams in order to become a destination for international players. Equally, a model that encourages dialogue and collaboration between national teams and clubs should help to grow the women's game in a healthy way.
