By Andrew Warshaw
The 24 qualifiers for the one-off pan-Continental European Championship in 2020 will share record total prize money of €371 million, €70 million up on last time, with each of the finalists receiving a minimum of €9.25 million.
UEFA made the windfall announcement at its annual Congress on Monday, adding that the eventual winner will take away a maximum of €34 million, compared €27 million in 2016.
Euro 2020 will be played in 12 different cities across Europe, with Wembley hosting the final on July 12.
UEFA’s competitions supremo Martin Kallen told the Congress that the pan-European finals, conceived by former UEFA president Michel Platini to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament, was a “complex project” that would involve seven different currencies and 11 languages.
But most stadiums being earmarked were already in operation, he said while Budapest was under construction and Amsterdam and Rome, where the tournament will kick off, were under renovation.
Meanwhile UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said he would “fight tooth and nail” to restore competitive balance to European club football whilst admitting that the days of relatively unheralded teams winning the big competitions was over.
“What is the point in generating record-breaking revenues, if it is just an accumulation of wealth?,” Ceferin told delegates. “The club game still requires our serious attention. We must dream big but I cannot promise you the moon because I am not a merchant of dreams and I am not a politician.”
“I will fight tooth and nail to introduce measures which restore some balance but I cannot claim that this will result in a club such as Steaua Bucharest or Red Star Belgrade being next to have their name engraved on Champions League trophy.”
Both clubs won the old European Cup in 1986 and 1991 respectively.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714083820labto1714083820ofdlr1714083820owedi1714083820sni@w1714083820ahsra1714083820w.wer1714083820dna1714083820