The millionaire figure that the Colombian economy loses due to the non-qualification of the football team to the world cup in Qatar

Although yesterday the team led by Reinaldo Rueda won an agonizing victory against Venezuela against Venezuela in Ordaz, he lost the opportunity to play the repechage to go to the Qatar World Cup due to the victory of the Peruvian team that is getting closer and closer to playing its second consecutive world championship. Not only is it the sadness of a country not to see Colombia at the most important football event, nor is it losing Luis Díaz's splurges of fantasy in Qatar, the elimination of the national team will have serious consequences for the Colombian economy.

According to the calculations of experts in the field, it would be at least 1.5 billion pesos that the country would no longer receive on account of the elimination of the World Cup team. This was exposed by a report from the Primera Página portal. This analysis also highlights that with figures from Fenalco, it is estimated that there will be about 3 billion pesos that will stop moving in the national economy due to the elimination of the selection. The tricolor will no longer receive about 39,215'400,000 (10 million dollars) in Colombian pesos.

According to the calculation of media such as El Tiempo, Fifa allocated 1,696 million dollars for this event. That amount of money is used for some expenses. More than 30% of that money, about $440 million, goes to national team prizes. Taking into account what happened at the World Cup in Russia, it is estimated that each team that qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar will receive 2.3% of the prize pool.

For the 2018 World Cup in Russia and Brazil 2014, the budget was 575 million and 791 million dollars, respectively. For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the French national football team took with it 38 million dollars out of a total of 400 million dollars allocated to prizes for all participating teams, so each team received 1.5 million dollars earmarked for their preparation.

The 16 teams eliminated before the final received $8 million each. That amount, together with the prize for qualifying in the qualifying rounds (1.5) and the bonus for reaching the round of 16, estimated at 3 million more, was the one received by the Colombian Football Federation when the Tricolor was eliminated by the England team in penalties: 13 million dollars

The World Cup in Brazil, for its part, was the most profitable in the history of the organization: FIFA won $2,376 million, without considering the contribution made by the government and the private sector to adapt infrastructure and services for the event, which exceeded 3 billion dollars.

Although sponsors such as Adidas, assured their participation in the national team until 2030, others have not done so, so there is doubt about their fate, due to the absence of Colombia in Qatar, which was an ideal showcase to be exhibited. One element that could also influence the economy by eliminating the national team would be the price of Colombian players for 2023.

On the other hand, Fenalco stressed that the economic losses would not only be for the Football Federation, but in general would be a blow to the merchants and their economies this year: “Reports from bars and restaurants during the World Cup era in Brazil and Russia indicate that there was an increase in their income between 30 percent and a 40 percent, compared to the same periods in the previous years,” said Fenalco.

For now, the country is waiting for the future of the national team, the continuation or exit of the Rueda cycle, and of course the road to 2026, to be able to return to the World Cup event.

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