Sunderland set to miss out on cash boost with Liverpool and Everton to benefit from UEFA payment programme

Sunderland will not financially benefit from the fact two of their academy graduates will feature at this summer’s European Championships.
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Both Jordan Pickford and Jordan Henderson are expected to play key roles as England look to secure a long-elusive trophy, with their campaign beginning against Croatia on Sunday afternoon.

The duo were also major players at the 2018 World Cup, where Pickford’s involvement brought financial rewards for Sunderland courtesy of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme - which sees clubs who had a player at the tournament registered over the three years prior handed a share of a cash payout.

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That programme earned the Black Cats a healthy six-figure sum in 2018, but there will be no repeat at this summer’s European Championships.

Jordan Henderson and Jordan PickfordJordan Henderson and Jordan Pickford
Jordan Henderson and Jordan Pickford

The way funds are distributed for UEFA’s flagship international tournament differs in that regulations state that ‘the clubs to benefit from these payments are those with which the players concerned were registered during the relevant release period.’

So in the cases of Henderson and Pickford, it is Liverpool and Everton who will pocket the sums.

Sunderland will, however, have benefitted from some payments owing to the fact some of their registered players took part in qualifying fixtures for Euro 2020.

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Both Tom Flanagan and Conor McLaughlin were regulars for Northern Ireland during their qualifying fixtures and even though the latter has now departed, Sunderland will benefit from their call-ups.

UEFA estimates suggest the figure heading to Sunderland thanks to the duo may be around £74,000 – although many of these payments were fast-tracked in April of last year to help clubs during the COVID-enforced break.

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