Chinese club Zhejiang set to earn US$319,000 after South Korean player’s World Cup foray
The club will earn that sum from Fifa Club Benefits Programme, which compensates teams whose players are away on national team duty
Although China did not qualify for the World Cup, Chinese Super League (CSL) side Zhejiang FC have been dubbed by local media as the league’s “biggest winner” as they stand to receive more than two million yuan (US$294,000) in tournament subsidies.
This is because of the Fifa Club Benefits Programme, which compensates clubs whose players are away on national team duty for several weeks. For the World Cup, Fifa announced last month that it had put aside a budget of about US$355 million.
The CSL’s sole representative at the tournament was South Korean international Park Jin-seop, and when his World Cup campaign came to an end – following the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan on the final group stage match day on Saturday, eliminating the Koreans – his club, Zhejiang FC, secured a substantial payout.
The scheme follows a daily-rated model, providing US$11,000 per day per player to their respective clubs, meaning teams with more players who stay longer receive higher payouts.
Park, who was playing in his first World Cup finals, came on as a substitute in South Korea’s first match, a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, and also in their third match, a 1-0 loss to South Africa.
Calculated from May 31, when Park reported for national team duty, until June 28, when South Korea’s campaign ended, a total of 29 days had elapsed. Under this formula, Zhejiang will receive around US$319,000.