Arsenal set for share of £270m FIFA compensation pot – but there’s a catch with Gabriel injury case

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Arsenal have not had a great international break, losing Gabriel Magalhaes to injury and Riccardo Calafiori returning early with a hip issue.

Arsenal won’t be best pleased with the timing of Gabriel’s groin injury, given the Gunners face a tough run of games over the next fortnight.

In fact, Arsenal fans are fuming at Brazil following the defender’s injury, with the national team having made the defender warm up on his own the day before to manage his load.

To find out more about the potential financial compensation for such an incident, Arsenal Insider spoke to the site’s Head of Football Finance, Adam Williams.

Arsenal could secure close to £5 million from FIFA

The North London club are set to secure close to £5 million from FIFA by the end of next summer’s World Cup just for releasing their players for international duty.

Arsenal are a member of the European Football Clubs, meaning they are due a share of the £270 million pot, with this excluding compensation for injuries.

Williams told Arsenal Insider: “There is this constant ongoing dance between FIFA, UEFA and the European Club Association – which recently had a clunky rebrand and is now known as ‘European Football Clubs’ – in terms of who owes what. Arsenal are members of European Football Clubs and, as one of the biggest brands in the game, exert influence on FIFA and UEFA indirectly over matters such as compensation for injured players.

“In September, FIFA announced that clubs that release players for the 2026 World Cup and, for the first time, the preceding qualification campaign, would share about £270m between them. That’s just for players joining up, not for injuries sustained on international duty.

“As far as I’m aware, FIFA haven’t disclosed the breakdown, but I’ve previously worked it out as being somewhere in the region of £13,500 per day. So by the end of the World Cup in 2026, Arsenal are probably going to be getting something close to £5m all told.”

Arsenal’s compensation fee for Gabriel Magalhaes’ injury

The hope is that Mikel Arteta’s team won’t actually receive any compensation for Gabriel’s injury, as this only happens when a player has been sidelined for more than 28 days.

Right now, the timeframe for the 27-year-old’s injury is unknown, but the Gunners will be hoping that there is no serious issue.

“On top of that, you can claim compensation when a player is injured on international duty. You do this through the Club Protection Programme, which applies when a player is out of action for more than 28 days because of an injury sustained on international duty,” Williams added.

“I’ve got to credit Philip Buckingham at The Athletic for the figures here, because I wasn’t aware of precisely how this worked. But you can claim up to £6.6m for an injury in a worst-case scenario. That, as Buckingham says, works out at just under £20,000 per day and is there to cover a player’s basic wage before variable pay and image rights. Clearly, Gabriel earns a lot more than that. Probably around double that, in fact.

“However, because – fingers crossed – he is not likely to be out for 28 days or longer, Arsenal probably won’t receive any compensation. So, if the injury isn’t serious, that’s obviously a positive, but it does mean that it won’t qualify for the scheme.”