Despite the controversies surrounding FIFA's sunken agreement with former marketing partner ISL-ISMM, which collapsed when ISL went bankrupt last year, the FAI are set to gain handsomely from their steady progress in the 2002 World Cup finals.
All 32 teams taking part in the Korea-Japan tournament will benefit from a 51 per cent increase in FIFA payouts compared to the 1998 finals in France.
The FIFA executive, prior to the competition, agreed to increase the participant's fees on a sliding scale up to €1.7 million for the eventual winners and €1.53 million for the losing finalists. In effect, the plan will mean that a team's progress in the tournament will see it earn larger amounts of prize money as it advances, with €600,000 awarded for each first round game and €1.08 million for each second round game. Any team reaching the quarter-finals will receive an additional €1.22 million with a further €1.36 million available for teams reaching the semi-finals and the third and fourth-place play-offs.
Given that Ireland have already faced Cameroon, Germany and Saudi Arabia in the group phase of the event, they left the Japanese mainland with a tidy sum of €1.8 million before the Spanish game in Suwon, South Korea, on Sunday.
In that first match of the knockout stage, Ireland will receive a further €1.08 million win or lose, ensuring a total of almost €2.88 million overall for the team's participation in the event. A win over Spain for a place in the quarter-finals would be worth a further €1.22 million, and if Ireland were then to achieve the unbelievable and advance to and win the World Cup final, the FAI would pick up a cheque for €18.228 million.
Given that FIFA have renegotiated their marketing and rights position for €2 billion and have a new partner in the German-based Kirch Group, which controls the global television and marketing rights for this World Cup and the 2006 event in Germany, FIFA have also agreed to pay for all 32 teams' travel costs, an estimated €31 million.
Ireland would also have made considerable profits from their series of matches played at Lansdowne Road in the qualification phase of the competition.
Large attendances at Ireland's home games against Holland, Portugal, Cyprus, Estonia and Andorra and the play-off match against Iran have ensured that 2002 will be a bumper year for the FAI.
The only regret the FAI may have is that FIFA own the television rights to the World Cup. If the FAI wish to produce a post-competition video, they will have to negotiate with their governing body.
