I was reading this article today about the weird situation that came up with the Ghanian national team at the 2014 World Cup, and I realized that I'd never heard about other player's compensation when playing for their national team. Is it common for players to be paid to play for their national teams? You hear about players being excited to play for their country, but I never accounted for additional pay (which I assume is usually going to be much smaller than they would normally be making for their club team).
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Players have contracts with their clubs. UEFA & FIFA pay (UEFA) clubs a compensation for most national team appearances of their players, per an agreement between them and the European Club Association - see their website, for example. Whether clubs pass it on to the player and/or withhold the usual salary when the player is away is between player and club (not sure how it is handled). Not sure about players playing outside Europe. Non-UEFA/FIFA competitions (e.g. African Championships) are not covered this way.– arne.bJul 4, 2014 at 9:05
1 Answer
Yes, they get bonuses. For reaching several stages of a tournament, they get bonuses. The spanish national team for one would have earned €720,000 for the world cup victory. Each player (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2086985-world-cup-2014-prize-money-spains-potential-payout-reportedly-revealed).
Especially at african team there are often discussions and eaven stoppages because of the proceedings about the bonuses (Cameroon this world cup: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27755342).