FIFA to pay clubs affected by winter World Cup in 2022

World football’s governing body will pay nearly twice as much in 2022 than the last two World Cups combined.

In a long-expected but highly controversial move, FIFA confirmed Thursday that the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take place in December.

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That will impact a number of top clubs and leagues around the world, as their seasons will be disrupted for a number of weeks. As a result, FIFA has reached an agreement with the European Club Association to pay clubs around a total compensation of over $153 million in 2022, according to a report from Sky Sports.

FIFA will pay the same amount for players’ involvement in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. While there is always compensation for the loss of player services for the month of the World Cup, the number totaled just over $80 million in the last two tournaments combined.

ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that domestic clubs will also have a say in creating the international calender for the first time. Overall, Rummenigge believes the agreement will be a positive for teams.

“These payments will benefit clubs from around the world who release World Cup players to their respective national associations.From an ECA perspective, this agreement is a great achievement. It marks another milestone for club football as a whole.”

Disrupting top leagues around the world pales in comparison to some of the other issues surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

While hosting the tournament there has been universally criticized, officially changing the date to winter and agreeing to compensation with the ECA just about ends any chance of it getting moved elsewhere.