All Whites squad to divvy up $4m

BY DUNCAN JOHNSTONE

The All Whites players will receive almost $4m of New Zealand's massive $10m World Cup payout.

Sunday News can reveal that a long-term deal negotiated by the Players' Association in 2004 will result in the players getting 40 percent of the money.

It is a "rags-to-riches" windfall for many of the players who have battled away for small beer compared to their higher profile All Blacks counterparts.

Some players who have played the entire campaign can expect individual payouts of more than $200,000.

Although it significantly reduces the windfall the organisation will have to spend on football's future, New Zealand Football boss Michael Glading said he was "comfortable" with the player payout.

Last weekend's 1-nil win over Bahrain, securing a World Cup start in South Africa, ensured a $US7m ($NZ9.7m) bonus for NZF from governing body Fifa.

Glading said confidentiality over the players' financial agreement prevented him from divulging exact details.

But he added he was not concerned about such a big slice of the pie going to the players, despite the deal being struck by a previous administration.

"It's a fair percentage ... I'm comfortable with it. Being that old an agreement, it has stood the test of time and that then says to me it's a pretty fair agreement for all parties," Glading said.

The money will be split amongst the players based on their individual contributions to game time.

Many will now be looking at large six-figure sums on top of the daily allowances they have been paid while assembled in New Zealand colours.

Glading said that needed to be put into perspective by the length of a campaign that started in October 2007.

And wages of players in other top sports teams adds to that perspective. All Blacks' annual salaries range from about $150,000 to $750,000 while the Black Caps' contracts spread from $70,000 to $250,000.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert and his management are on a separate deal that was also struck prior to qualification.

Glading is aware of expectations from the footballing public over the ramifications of the massive windfall with many expecting the full amount to be spent on the game.

But he added that anyone looking for reductions in club fees which help subsidise NZF should think again.

He said the World Cup bonus is just that - a bonus - and the $6m left to the administration will be used for the future of the game, meaning business as usual for now.

"In round figures our cost of delivering the game is close to $6m a year. If you were to take our share of this and use it on just regular business the well would run dry in less than a year," Glading warned.

"So we have to make sure what we do with the money is create something very much about long-term benefit and that our regular day to day business carries on. Otherwise you get the boom-bust cycle which is where we have been in the past."

Glading, an experienced businessman who used to head Sony Music New Zealand, is determined to create a legacy for the game here.

"I'm really, really conscious that we maintain our current income levels but create reserves that will generate interest and allow us to think long term. As an organisation we have never had that luxury ... it's been hand to mouth, cap in hand, month-in, month-out.

"The key is to make sure that the good times aren't just short-term. I'm hell-bent on that. That's the message I hope people will understand."

Glading said there were lessons to be learned from every day people.

"It's like if someone wins Lotto. You read these stories of people getting all this money and then five years later they are broke. You think, how did that happen?

I'm going to be bold and say that won't happen to New Zealand Football."

- © Fairfax NZ News