Ian Mallon: How Irish players split €2.6m in Euro 2016 bonuses
QUIDS IN: Wes Hoolahan, centre, of Republic of Ireland celebrates after he scored his side's first goal during the UEFA Euro 2016 Group E match between Republic of Ireland and Sweden at Stade de France in Saint Denis, Paris, France. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
FOR the first time, it can be disclosed that the Republic of Ireland Men’s team were paid €2,550,000 in bonuses and fees for qualification and participation in Euro 2016.
Details of the various amounts and the make-up of the different fees and bonus payments have never been disclosed by the FAI, and don’t include potential bonuses to the team’s management, or to then FAI CEO John Delaney.
The Pitch has seen the detail of the legal agreement between the FAI and the Ireland players, which sets out a payment structure to include a qualification bonus, fees for participation at the finals in France, as well as performance bonuses.
Terms and conditions of the 2016 contract are revealed as the Irish Women’s National Team prepare to receive €300k in participation payments in the coming weeks, for qualification to their first ever Fifa World Cup Finals this summer.
While it might be tempting to compare the disparity of payments for the men vs women - an initial qualification bonus €1.25m v €300k - the FAI receives very little from Fifa for the Women’s World Cup compared to the money it won from Uefa for the Men’s Euros.
Seven years ago the FAI took €9m for qualification for Euro 2016 – from which the players received 13.8% – with the total payments received by the association rising to €11m by the end of the competition, with 23% going to the squad.
The women’s side will receive a 25% share of the initial €1.2m (approximate) which the FAI has just received for Women’s World Cup qualification.
So how are major tournament qualification bonuses agreed with players and which footballers receive the most money?
For all players involved in successful qualifying campaigns, there is a three-step scoring system employed by the FAI.
Three points are awarded per game started, two points for a substitute appearance and one point for match day squad selection (but no match appearance) with the agreed total fee then divided proportionally among players based on their points.
In 2016 an initial €1.25m was paid in two instalments, with a payment of €1m in March of that year, with a second fee of €250k shared out the following September.
By then an additional €1.3m was added to the pot, just for those players who were part of the 23-man tournament squad.
This extra money was made up of four bonus payments, with an initial €400k going to the players for Ireland’s participation in the tournament — €200k for its draw with Sweden, €400k for the win over Italy and another €250k for qualification to the last 16 of the competition.
While the values for the Women’s World Cup are significantly lower, Ireland’s female stars can expect to see their prize money double, or much more, on the back of a successful tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
But who determines the value of such payments, or rather who decides how much the FAI should give over to the players?
Two of the most senior players agree the overall fee with the FAI CEO and Finance Director – in what can sometimes be an acrimonious affair, as we saw with Shay Given’s now infamous clash with John Delaney in 2012.
Obviously the characters this time around are much different, but the one constant is the presence of Robbie Keane’s agent Ciaran Medlar – also Chairman of Shamrock Rovers.
Medlar is a partner and Sports Advisory Unit lead with financial firm BDO and a skilled negotiator for a number of successful Ireland squads, particularly in the days of the old FAI regime.
In 2016 he advised the negotiation process with John O’Shea and ‘Robert Keane’ – as he was named in the Euro 2016 Agreement, seen this week by The Pitch – where the players agreed an eight-point framework which set the terms and conditions of a final contract.
These eight headings consisted of: Participation Bonus, Appearance Fee, Match Bonuses, Additional Bonuses, Match Fees (for non-tournament international matches), Squad Obligations (media and commercial), Player Image and Social Media.
The participation bonus is paid to all players who made the matchday squads for qualifying, and is seen as the fairest and best way to evaluate the individual ‘worth’ of each player from the €1.25m pot.
No such match appearance system is used for the tournament proper, with the extra prize money divided equally under team performance and additional bonuses – which in France worked out at €56.5k per player.
These additional payments carried tax obligations with the French taxation authorities.
Had Ireland beaten France the players would have shared another €500k for a quarter-final qualification, €1m for the semi-finals, and €2m for a final appearance, with an additional €3m for winning the competition outright.
Additional agreements were put in place for the 2016-17 international season (World Cup qualifications) where payments of €2,500 for matchday squad players were agreed.
They included player bonuses of €1,250 for a win, and a €750 payment for a draw – friendly game payments were agreed at €1,500. Interestingly there were no goal bonuses, or disciplinary penalties for red cards.
The agreement by Keane and O’Shea also committed to cooperation with the FAI’s commercial and media demands on an ongoing basis, use of the players' imagery – only when wearing Rep of Ireland apparel - as well as additional social media involvement.
While the women’s squad receives smaller fees than their male counterparts, The Pitch understands that the exact same criteria and framework was used to establish their individual payments from the World Cup prize pot.
THREE-time Super Bowl winner Lonie Paxton will join former LA Lakers, Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic shooter Maurice Evans for one of the sports business highlights of the year.
The pair will join a host of movers and shakers for the return of the One-Zero, a sport, business and technology summit taking place in Dublin at the end of March.
Paxton – who played for the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos – and Evans will take part in a ‘sports stars becoming investors’ segment at the conference, set for the Aviva Stadium on March 29 and 30.
Up to 1,000 sports industry professionals are expected to hear from 20+ international change-makers across 10 key sectors including Innovation, Gaming and Blockchain.
This year’s summit, the first since 2019, will focus on innovative industrial change in the sports business sector, following a challenging period for all sports and related industries through the Covid period.
Other business titans from Manchester United, the NBA, Puma and Only Fans will speak at the event which kicks off what is expected to be an ambitious future strategy for the One-Zero organisation.
Further details available at one-zero.com
THE announcement of a new CEO for European Professional Club Rugby marks the most significant period of change since the professionalisation of the game.
Jacques Raynaud takes up the role as EPCR CEO and looks to grow the segment across Europe and into the US, in a move timed to coincide with the redistribution of broadcasting assets owned by BT Sport and Eurosport.
Under an agreement late last year, Warner Bros. Discovery have joined forces with BT Group to offer traditional broadcasters, including RTÉ, free-to-air coverage of European games to grow audiences and interests in the sport.
Raynaud comes loaded with broadcast experience having held numerous executive VP roles with various Sky assets in the UK, Italy and Germany, as well as with Eurosport.
The Frenchman is charged to lead the organisation’s newly established strategic development, for which he was deemed the obvious winner following a lengthy global talent search by the EPCR.
Currently CEO of sports tech start-up, MyTVchain, Raynaud’s international business experience marked him as the “outstanding candidate in a very strong field” according to EPCR Chairman, Dominic McKay.
"Jacques’ background, particularly within the multimedia and commercial environments, will enable EPCR’s Board and Leadership team to deliver against our key priorities in these areas,” added McKay.
Raynaud, who replaces Anthony Lepage, said his role now is to enhance “the tournaments that form the very pinnacle of international club rugby".
He will join EPCR at the end of the current season.
