VENTURES AFRICA – The Confederations Cup is widely seen as the curtain raiser to football’s most prestigious competition, the FIFA World Cup, which comes a year later. And as far as football fans are concerned, it is an opportunity to weigh the chances of their teams ahead of the mundial.
For FIFA, the tournament is a litmus test which the host nation must pass to determine if such nation has the adequate capacity to host the World Cup. Although all the facilities to be used for the World Cup are usually not ready by the time the Confederations Cup comes around, FIFA uses the occasion to analyse the preparation level of hosta. If a host nation cannot handle 8 football teams and a few fans, how will they handle the 32-team World Cup, the fans and billions of people watching across the globe the whole?
Aside these tests, there is a business side to the competition.
Nations take pride in participation, but they ultimately stand to gain a healthy revenue. Away from the spectacle of football, bean counters of the national associations will do what they do best.
The 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil will see a largesse of about $20 million split amongst all participating nations, depending on their final position in the tournament. As usual, the champions of the competition will earn more than the others especially this year as FIFA have increased the victory booty by about 14 percent. The winners of the 2013 tournament will earn about $4.1 million while the runners up will earn $3.6 millon. The remaining six nations will be left with about $12.2 million to share. The third place play-off will be contested not only for football bragging rights, but also for a share of the spoils, as the third placed team will receive $3 million while the losers will receive $2.5 million.
The remaining teams at the competitions, who failed to grab semi-final berths, will then be left with $6.8 million to be split evenly amongst themselves with each team earning $1.7 million.
For Africa’s representatives at the event, Nigeria the possibility of earning a chunk of the prize money has been enhanced as pundits claim the AFCON 2013 champions have been placed in an ‘easier group’, thus increasing their semi-finals chances. By simply qualifying, Africa’s representatives will earn a minimum of $1.7m but if they qualify for the semi-finals, then their minimum earning potential rises to $2.5 million.
As far as football development goes in Nigeria, these funds could be pivotal as a catalyst for growth if properly and strategically invested. Thus, as the Eagles land in Brazil for the kick off on June 16, the bean counters at the Nigerian Football Federation will be hoping they soar to the summit of the competition to secure more than pride for the country.
