UEFA Nations League Payment Doubled

The 55 national teams participating in the inaugural UEFA Nations League will see a 50 percent increase in solidarity fees paid to them, UEFA has said.

The 12 strongest teams based on UEFA rankings — divided into four groups of three in League A — will each receive €2.25 million in solidarity fees, an increase of €750,000 from the amount announced in March.

Each group winner in League A will be given an additional €2.25m as a bonus, up from €1.5m.

“The decision to increase the solidarity and bonus payments was taken by the UEFA executive committee and was made possible by UEFA’s solid financial situation,” a UEFA statement read.

UEFA added the financial boost was also due to their earnings from Euro 2016 that were set aside for future investment.

League A group winners will compete for the UEFA Nations League trophy in June 2019 and the champions stand to gain €6m in solidarity fees — taking the maximum they could earn from the tournament to €10.5m.

The event, created to replace friendly internationals that were unpopular with clubs, players and fans as they interrupted league action, largely got the thumbs up after the first batch of matches in September.