FIFA training compensation: What Barcelona, Real Madrid and other clubs will receive

FIFA has notified national associations of the amounts it will pay to clubs across all six confederations for training and education of players. The communication sets out the figures by category and establishes the system each federation must use to classify its clubs based on their investment in player development.

• FIFA will pay 90,000 euros to UEFA clubs in category I.
• Category II clubs receive 60,000 euros, category III clubs get 30,000 and category IV clubs 10,000.
• Alongside UEFA, only CONMEBOL operates with the full four-category structure; the other confederations use three.
• In CONMEBOL the top payment for a category I club is around 43,000 euros.
• In the AFC, OFC, CAF and CONCACAF the maximum amount ranges between 34,616 and 25,962 euros.

What FIFA pays clubs for training compensation

Training and education payments reward clubs financially for developing footballers. To calculate the amounts, each national association places its clubs into a maximum of four categories according to their financial investment in youth development. Training costs are set for each category and equal the amount required to train a player for one year, multiplied by a player factor. That factor represents how many players must be developed, on average, for one to become a professional.

How much UEFA clubs earn by category

Every European club under UEFA falls within the four-category structure. The distribution sets 90,000 euros for category I clubs, the highest figure in the entire system. Category II sides will receive 60,000 euros, a number that drops to 30,000 in category III. For clubs placed in the fourth and final tier, the payment is fixed at 10,000 euros.

The gap between confederations in maximum payments

The structure is not identical worldwide. CONMEBOL is the only confederation that shares the four-category model with UEFA. In South America, the highest amount for a club listed as category I is around 43,000 euros, less than half of what a top-tier European club receives.

The other four confederations, the AFC, OFC, CAF and CONCACAF, operate with only three categories. Their maximum figures are also lower than in Europe: the ceiling ranges between 34,616 and 25,962 euros, a band considerably below the UEFA levels.

What it means for Barcelona, Real Madrid and European academies

Barcelona and Real Madrid have long ranked among the clubs with the highest investment in youth development in European football. Their academies run annual budgets well above the continental average and are usually placed in category I of the system. That gives them access to the top tier of 90,000 euros per player trained for a year, the benchmark FIFA uses to recognise the strongest academies in UEFA.

The amount a club receives does not depend on how many footballers it has promoted to the first team, but on the annual cost of training multiplied by the player factor. That is why category placement matters so much: an academy with greater investment not only enters a higher tier but also generates more income for every player who completes their development.

How training costs are calculated

The system is built on a simple principle: producing one professional footballer requires developing several players over multiple years. The training cost for each category equals the sum needed to train one player for a year, multiplied by the player factor. That factor expresses how many developing footballers are needed, on average, for a single one to reach the professional game.

Associations classify their clubs into a maximum of four categories according to their financial investment in player training.

Frequently asked questions about training compensation payments