Istanbul, 28 March 2023 (Anadolu News)

FIFA will pay clubs a combined $355 million for sending their footballers to the 2026 and 2030 World Cup tournaments, the European Club Association (ECA) confirmed Monday.

The ECA said in a statement that FIFA President Gianni Infantino and ECA Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them at the 29th ECA General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary.

"The Club Benefits Programme, for example, which has historically compensated all clubs who release players for the men’s World Cup and was a key achievement of the previous MoU, will now increase from $209 million for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup final tournaments to $355 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments," the ECA said.

It added that the long-term deal would enable the ECA and FIFA to build on their close collaboration which has existed since the birth of the ECA 15 years ago, now with a new term until Dec. 31, 2030.