All Whites set for $1m cup boost

‘‘A lot of it does fall back on having the resource and support for all our international teams.’’ Harry Ngata, NZPFA chairman

The All Whites will receive a direct $1 millon boost from their World Cup playoff against Peru.

In a deal negotiated in 2014, the New Zealand Professional Footballers Association (NZPFA) will receive the money in part thanks to Westpac Stadium in Wellington being close to selling out for the first leg on November 11.

Under the deal, the NZPFA has spent $500,000 over the last three years to support the All Whites, predominantly on ensuring the players flew business class to and from important games. The majority of that money came from the NZPFA’s funding from FIFPro, which is an international union of professional footballers.

In return, they negotiated a financial boost should they succeed in qualifying for the game in Wellington - and attracting a significant crowd for the game.

They qualified by beating the Solomon Islands in September, and have succeeded in attracting a big crowd, with fewer than 1500 of the 38,000 tickets left as of yesterday.

NZPFA chairman Harry Ngata said the deal was about ensuring the All Whites, as well as the Football Ferns and other international teams, had enough support for the next World Cup cycle.

‘‘It was part of our relationship with New Zealand Football and understanding that getting players to games and back to their clubs in tip-top condition proved to be a challenge in previous years,’’ said Ngata, who played 28 times for the All Whites between 1993 and 2001.

‘‘In my time absolutely [it was a challenge], but fast-forward 10 or 12 years and we’re becoming a lot more flexible in terms of how we make things work.’’

While it would technically take money away from New Zealand Football, Ngata said the money would still be spent on the organisation’s teams.

‘‘It’ll be a fund that will be assigned to help resource the next World Cup cycle potentially.

‘‘Is it going to sit in our coffers or NZF’s coffers? At this stage, I think that’s irrelevant. It’s an agreement we have between both of us that there is going to be the resource made available to ensure our teams are best prepared.’’

NZF chief executive Andy Martin has said if the All Whites fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, they would face a reduced schedule going forward.

That was because they would miss out on more than $10m prizemoney which comes from attending football’s showpiece event.

The international teams reserve is into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and without an injection similar to 2009, when the All Whites made the World Cup, or 2013, when a bidding war between Mexican broadcasters yielded $6m for NZF, the All Whites would not be able to sustain the playing levels they have achieved over the last three years.

Ngata was well aware of the financial reality of trying to fund the various international programmes, but said this deal would go some way to helping that.

‘‘We have to make sure we’re giving them the resources to be able to perform at a high level. The fact is we’ve been far from it and that’s been publicly known for a number of years now.

‘‘We have to bridge that gap as best we can. It’s not perfect, there is no silver bullet, but at the end of the day a lot of it does fall back on having the resource and support for all our international teams to ensure, in terms of preparation, they have the best possible chance to win on the international stage.’’

The NZPFA has provided monetary contributions to each of the All Whites’ last four World Cup campaigns.