More funds for clubs taking part in UEFA competitions

Local clubs taking part in UEFA competitions will receive higher income as UEFA announced the detailed financial distribution system for its club competitions and the solidarity payments for the 2015/18 cycle in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The local champions will in fact receive over half a million euro and local participants in the UEFA Europa League €200,000.

A new distribution system has been adopted by UEFA, in close cooperation with the European Club Association (ECA). All revenues of the two competitions will for the first time be centralised into one single pot, with the redistribution to participating clubs based on a fixed ratio of 3.3:1 between UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

An enhanced distribution system for solidarity payments for clubs not competing in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group stage has also been adopted by UEFA for the 2015-18 cycle. The distribution to clubs participating in the qualification phases of either competition (except those qualifying to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, which will not be entitled to these solidarity payments) will represent 3.5% of the overall revenues. An amount of at least €78.6m will be distributed, compared to €47.5m in the 2012-15 cycle, thus representing an increase of around 60%.

Clubs eliminated prior to the group stage will receive the following amounts per round: €200k in the first qualifying round, €300k in the second qualifying round and €400k in the third qualifying round (this latter, if not involved in the UEFA Champions League play-offs). In addition, any domestic champion not qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League will receive €250k.

The local champion will therefore receive €550,000 as the Maltese representative club currently starts from the second qualifying round of the competition.

In the UEFA Europa League, these solidarity payments will amount to: €200k in the first qualifying round, €210k in the second qualifying round, €220k in the third qualifying round and €230k in the play-offs (this latter, if not qualified to the UEFA Europa League group stage).

The three Maltese clubs in the UEFA Europa League will therefore receive €200,000 compared to the €120,000 they received until the current season.

Meanwhile the solidarity payments to non-participating clubs via their national associations and/or leagues, formerly amounting to 6.5% of the UEFA Champions League clubs’ share, will now represent 5% of the overall gross revenues of the two competitions.

A total of €112m will be distributed to national associations and/or leagues for their clubs, compared to €82.4m in the 2012-15 cycle, thus representing an increase of more than 35%. 80% of this amount will be distributed to national associations and/or leagues with at least one club participating in the UEFA Champions League group stage and 20% to national associations and/or leagues without participating clubs. Only clubs not participating in the group stage of either competition will be entitled to a share of these solidarity payments.

Furthermore, the distribution to national associations and/or leagues will no longer be exclusively based on their market value, but 60% of the available amounts will be distributed in equal shares amongst all national associations and/or leagues and only 40% will follow the market value. This will ensure a fairer distribution of solidarity amounts to European clubs.

Malta is represented by John Borg of Birkirkara and Joe Attard of Valletta in the ECA.

UEFA Champions League

Each of the 32 clubs involved in the group stage will receive a group stage allocation of €12m.

On top of this, there will be performance bonuses: €1.5m for every win and €500k for every draw in the group stage.

The teams playing in the round of 16 will receive €5.5m each, the quarter-finalists €6m each and the semi-finalists €7m each. The UEFA Champions League winners will receive €15m and the runners-up €10.5m, inclusive of their ticketing revenue share.

A club could receive, at best, €54.5m, not counting the play-offs and the market pool share.

UEFA Europa League

Each of the 48 clubs involved in the group stage will receive a group stage allocation of €2.4m.

On top of this, there will be performance bonuses: €360k for every win and €120k for every draw in the group stage. The winners of the groups will receive a qualification bonus of €500k and the runners-up of €250k.

The teams playing in the round of 32 will receive €500k each, the teams playing in the round of 16 will receive €750k each, the quarter-finalists €1m each and the semi-finalists €1.5m each. The UEFA Europa League winners will receive €6.5m and the runners-up €3.5m, inclusive of their ticketing revenue share.

A club could receive, at best, €15.31m, not counting the market pool share.