FRANKFURT (GERMANY), 3 Dec. (dpa/EP) –
The players of the German team missed out on a bonus of up to 400,000 euros per player after their early elimination from the World Cup in Qatar, finishing third in Group E behind Japan and Spain.
Captain Manuel Neuer and players Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich and Ilkay Gündogan had negotiated this record bonus if they won the World Cup with the leaders of the German Football Federation (DFB), led by president Bernd Neuendorf.
The bonus would have cost the DFB a total of 10.4 million euros distributed among the 26 players of the German soccer team. Despite saving the premium, the DFB misses out on FIFA’s million-dollar payments.
FIFA pays around 9 million euros to the 16 teams that are eliminated after the group stage. Each of the 32 soccer teams qualified for the World Cup had already received 1.5 million euros before the tournament to cover preparation costs.
However, very different sums would have reached the coffers of the German soccer federation in the event of advancing in the World Cup. FIFA is paying the equivalent of about 440 million euros in prize money for this World Cup. The world champion receives €42 million, while the losing finalist gets €30 million.
Third place is awarded €27 million, and the loser of the third place match receives €25 million. By failing to qualify for the round of 16, the DFB missed out on compensation of €13 million.
The DFB could easily have paid for the German players’ bonuses with FIFA money: for leading their group, the players would have received €50,000 each. Participation in the quarterfinals would have been rewarded with 100,000 euros, and the semifinal with 150,000 euros. Third place would have meant 200,000 euros, and a lost final, 250,000 euros.
The highest tournament bonus is still the one charged by the Germans Neuer, Müller, Mario Götze and Matthias Ginter, among others, for winning the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil: 300,000 euros per player.