For football clubs, international breaks can be a nightmare. When star players are called up to play for their national teams, there’s always a risk they could return with injuries, leaving clubs without key players for important upcoming matches. This is a common problem, especially in the modern football landscape, where both club and international football overlap.
When a key player returns to their club after an international match with an injury, it can cause huge disruptions. The club may lose them for crucial domestic games and potentially international fixtures as well. This risk is something every manager faces and has to deal with regularly.
However, there is some good news for clubs. In 2012, FIFA introduced a protection programme for clubs facing this problem. The Club Protection Programme (CPP) helps to compensate clubs when players suffer injuries while on international duty.
Under this scheme, if a player is injured during an international match and is unavailable for more than 28 days, their club can claim compensation through FIFA. FIFA will cover a portion of the player’s wages during the time they are out of action.
According to FIFA’s guidelines, in 2023, a club can claim up to 7.5 million Euros per year for a player’s wages, which works out to around €20,548 a day. However, this amount only covers the player’s basic salary and does not include bonuses, image rights, or medical expenses.
For example, if a player earns £20,000 per week and is sidelined for 12 weeks due to an injury on international duty, FIFA would compensate the club £240,000. Similarly, if a player earns £40,000 per week and is out for six months, the club would receive over £1 million in compensation.
While the CPP does provide significant financial relief, there are some limitations. The compensation is not designed to cover the full wages of high-earning stars like Erling Haaland or Mohamed Salah. FIFA caps compensation at a maximum of £120,000 per week, which means that for top-tier players, the club may still lose out on a portion of their salary.
Moreover, the CPP has a capped annual fund of just €80 million, meaning that if multiple players are injured on international duty at the same time, clubs may not receive the full compensation they are entitled to.
Additionally, the scheme does not apply to players at youth levels, such as those in U-21 national teams. FIFA only compensates injuries at the senior international level.
The CPP is distinct from FIFA’s Club Development Programme, which supports clubs sending players to major tournaments like the FIFA World Cup. For the 2022 World Cup, FIFA allocated up to $10,000 per day for each player’s daily expenses, and the clubs of players who reached the final received significant payouts.
FIFA’s total investment in the World Cup amounted to over $209 million, benefiting over 440 clubs from the 51 member associations.
FIFA’s CPP offers some financial relief for clubs dealing with injuries sustained during international duty, but it doesn’t fully cover the wages of the highest-paid stars. While the scheme is a step in the right direction, there are still gaps that leave top clubs like Manchester City or Liverpool at risk of financial loss if their key players are injured on international duty.