The harsh attack from the Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiisto FIFA’s international calendar system and to the rules that oblige clubs to release players, only to then see them return injured, even seriously, has rekindled the debate on the impossible relationship between national teams and their clubs. De Laurentiis let off steam after the knockout of Anguissa that he will return in 2026 but many think like him, especially among those who incur enormous expenses to set up the squads and are forced by the rules to lose players for 45-60 days a year, often in the heart of the season.
It is what in Spain they have long renamed the “Fifa Virus”: it strikes indiscriminately and risks ruining entire sporting projects because it is the result of a planning that does not take into account the needs of the clubs but overlaps with them: each with its own sporting and marketing needs, if it is true that Argentina collected a 12 million euro fee for a friendly match in Angola sold thanks to the precept of Messi and all the big names of the group Stairs. Sports value? Zero. Risks for clubs? Many.
Injuries in the national team, how much FIFA spends on compensation
Since 2012, FIFA has established a fund to compensate clubs for the damage of a serious injury suffered during official commitments with their respective national teams. It’s called the “Club Protection Program” and consists of a sort of insurance coverage that comes into force when a player gets injured while playing for the national team. In over a decade, FIFA has progressively increased the budget available to clubs, but it is still a figure of a few tens of millions of euros which does not even remotely cover the damage created by the loss of a top player, especially in the long term.
The principle is that the reimbursement, when activated, is paid based on the injured player’s salary. There are, however, several mitigation mechanisms that make it only partially effective. For example, FIFA with its club protection program does not recognize any sum for the first 28 days which are considered not sufficient to cause actual damage for the company they belong to. It means that, as often happens, players who drag muscle problems from one break to the next in autumn (September-October-November), often ending up missing an important part of the season in whole or in part, are not compensated.
FIFA covers from the 29th day onwards by recognizing a daily allowance proportionate to the injured person’s salary. It reaches up to 365 days with a maximum cap of 7.5 million euros for each player. Just compare this figure to the salaries of the top players in the relevant European leagues to understand that it is a sort of tip, not much more. Not only that: the reference parameter is the basic salary without taking into account individual and team bonuses and awards, a now consolidated practice in high-level football.
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