Four African countries participating in the 2014 World Cup which started in Brazil on Thursday – Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria and Ghana – have the potential to generate a combined $32 million if they are knocked out in the initial group stages.
This means their under performance could generate some form of revenue for their respective national football associations.
This is despite the fact that this is not an outcome many Africans are hoping for particularly at a time when many footballers from this continent are doing well in European leagues.
According to FIFA, each of the 16 countries eliminated in the initial group stage, will each be paid $8 million in the current World Cup.
However, if each of these African countries up their game and perform much better to advance to the next round of eight teams, each will get paid $9 million even if they are eliminated. This means a combined $36 million could come to Africa.
Additionally, African countries eliminated in the quarter finals will each be paid out $14 million.
In the previous World Cups, African countries have found it hard and tough reach the quarter finals stage and go beyond it. Many believe Africa is still a long way before going beyond this stage and reaching the finals.
About 14 years ago, Pele, one of the greatest soccer players ever to grace the World Cup, predicted that Africa was on the verge of reaching and winning the finals. But 14 years later that has not been achieved yet.
Anyway, in the current World Cup, Fifa has budgeted $576 million in prize money and this amount is 37 percent higher than the one budgeted in 2010 Fifa World Cup held in South Africa.
This year’s figures distributed to participating countries show that this current World Cup, like all the others before it, will not improve the lives of ordinary Africans. This was evident in South Africa.
However, this World Cup will benefit a couple of the commercial sectors in the African countries that are represented in the current World Cup.
People in these countries are going to spend their hard-earned money for consumption in sport bars and well-known eateries.
Others will buy new TV sets so they can watch their countrymen play in the world’s biggest sports spectacle. This will only benefit companies that are in these sectors.
But not only citizens of participating countries are going to follow these countries. Africans from all over the continent will be watching and supporting these countries through and through.
This has been corroborated by Ivory Coast and Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure in an interview with the Independent Newspaper in the UK recently.
“I represent my country, but I also represent the continent of Africa when I play in Europe,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to try to achieve something big,” he told the Independent, referring to the current World Cup.
