Every football player in Ivory Coast’s AFCON2023 winning squad will pocket $82,000 (£65,000) on top of a villa worth a similar amount, the country’s presidency announced.
“You have brought happiness to all Ivorians, bravo, bravo,” said President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, which hosted the continental tournament.
Ivory Coast beat Nigeria in the finals played on Sunday with the hosts pulling off a 2-1 victory in the dying minutes of the game.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles also got a heroes’ welcome from fans at home and their efforts are being handsomely rewarded by the country’s President Bola Tinubu.
Each member of the Nigerian squad has received one of the country’s highest honours -the Member of the Order of the Niger.
The president is also giving them each an apartment and a piece of land near the capital, Abuja. The amount of cash Nigeria’s players are to receive from the state purse however remains unclear.
Third-placed South Africa are also set to receive about $52,000 per player, according to local media.
But all of the perks listed above are in addition to the usual prize money staked by the Africa Cup of Nations, which they say they have boosted by 40% since the last tournament.
This means that winners Ivory Coast get $7m, runners-up Nigeria get $4m, semi-finalist South Africa and DR Congo each get $2.5m, while the four teams who made the quarter-finals take home $1.3m each.