Dusseldorf The soccer World Cup in Qatar has been running since Sunday. In advance, there was a lot of discussion and criticism in politics and society. In a study with more than 3,000 participants, 70 percent stated that they did not want to watch the opening ceremony and the first game – Ecuador versus Qatar.
And in fact, the ratings in this country fell sharply compared to the previous World Cup. 6.21 million viewers watched the game between Qatar and Ecuador on ZDF, while the opening of the 2018 World Cup attracted more than ten million viewers to their TVs. How the ratings will turn out for the first game of the German national team will be seen on Wednesday. Then Germany plays against Japan.
The fact is: The World Cup is all about money. Bribes, enormous costs for infrastructural expansion, expensive tickets, high prize money and even higher television money: we have summarized the most important facts and figures for you.
How expensive is the World Cup for host country Qatar?
The exact costs cannot be determined exactly. Media reports and estimates assume that the costs for the emirate for hosting the World Cup will increase about $220 billion amount. For comparison: The past seven World Cups are estimated to have cost around 44 billion dollars.
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Massive investments in Qatar’s infrastructure and in the construction of stadiums were necessary. In addition, the burden of proof that millions of dollars in bribes were paid in the background by the desert state is overwhelming.
14 of 22 votes went to Qatar when the venue was chosen. It is now considered certain that several votes had been bought. The British “Sunday Times” reported, citing secret documents, that Mohamed bin Hammam, a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee and FIFA Vice President, distributed a total of five million dollars to delegates.
It is said that $1.5 million each went to Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) and Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast). In addition, a number of Fifa officials and representatives of European football are still suspected of having accepted bribes in connection with the 2022 World Cup.
Football World Cup in Qatar: how much is the prize money for the world champion?
The world champion can look forward to prize money of 42 million dollars. The amount of the total prize money amounts to 440 million dollars, that fall into Fifa’s investment budget and themselves split as follows:
- 17th to 32nd place: $144 million ($9 million per team)
- 9th place to 16th place: $104 million ($13 million per team)
- 5th to 8th place: $68 million ($17 million per team)
- 4th place: 25 million dollars
- Place 3: $27 million
- Place 2: 30 million dollars
- 1st place: 42 million dollars
How much revenue does FIFA get from the TV rights to the World Cup?
The awarding of the TV rights for the World Cup matches in Qatar is FIFA’s largest source of income. In 2022, the income for the television broadcasting rights will be around $2.7 billion. In addition to the TV rights, the association is said to have achieved record revenues of around 7.25 billion euros over the past four years with the contracts for the 2022 World Cup, reports the American news agency AP.
What World Cup bonuses do Germany national players receive?
The players of the German national team receive bonuses if they reach certain tournament stages. These premiums per capita can be quantified as follows:
- Group win: 50,000 euros
- Reaching the Quarterfinals: 100,000 euros
- Semi-final entry: 150,000 euros
- Third place: 200,000 euros
- Participation in the final: 250,000 euros
- Winning the world title: 400,000 euros
How much do Qatar World Cup tickets cost?
Qatar World Cup 2022 tickets are divided into four categories. The lower the category, the higher the price. For the opening game, those interested in ticket category 1 had to pay around 618 dollars in the official FIFA ticket office. Tickets for the finals start at $200 and go up to $1,600.
Meanwhile, a Fifa spokesman told French news agency AFP that 2.95 million tickets had already been sold throughout the tournament. According to the association, this has already exceeded the sales figures for the last World Cup in Russia, in which a little more than 2.4 million tickets were sold.
More: World Cup 2022 live blog