Malta will be receiving €750,000 for participation in the UEFA Nations League as the European body announced it will increase solidarity payments by 50% and a further 50% in bonus payments for winners.
UEFA announced on Thursday it will increase UEFA Nations League payments for the current edition of the tournament, which started in September. This will see a 50% rise in solidarity fees given to all 55 national associations who are taking part in the competition.
According to the revised fees, participants in League A will now receive €2.25m, an increase of €750,000 over the original €1.5m;
participants in League B will receive €1.5 million, an increase of €500,000 over the original €1m; participants in League C €1.125 million, an increase of €375,000 over the original €750,000 while participants in League D will receive €750,000, an increase of €250,000 over the original €500,000.
The group stage winners in Leagues A, B, C and D also all stand to benefit, with every country finishing top of their pool receiving a 50% increase in bonus payments.
The additional winners fee are as follows:
League A – €2.25m (an increase of €750,000 over the original €1.5m)
League B – €1.5m (an increase of €500,000 over the original €1m)
League C – €1.125m (an increase of €375,000 over the original €750,000)
League D – €750,000 (an increase of €250,000 over the original €500,000)
Therefore the maximum amount of solidarity payments and bonus fees for a team in League A would be €4.5m; €3m for a team in League B; €2.25m for a team in League C and €1.5m for a team in League D.
The four group winners of League A will play for the UEFA Nations League trophy in June 2019. The increase in solidarity fee for the winner is €1.5 million and will now receive €6 million while the increase for the runners-up, third placed and fourth placed will be of €1 million and will now receive €4.5m, €3.5m and €2.5m respectively.
This means the overall winner of the UEFA Nations league, following the finals tournament, will receive €10.5m.
The UEFA Nations League, which kicked off in September, was launched following feedback given to UEFA by national associations, coaches, players and supporters, who were increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches do not provide adequate competition for national teams.
The decision to increase the solidarity and bonus payments was taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and was made possible by the UEFA’s solid financial situation, which was helped in part by earnings from UEFA EURO 2016 being set aside for future investment.