FIFA to pay winning club $2.3 million at first Women''s Champions Cup
Zurich (AP): FIFA will pay $2.3 million in prize money to the club that wins the first Women's Champions Cup at Arsenal's stadium next week.
The total fund detailed on Friday by FIFA will share $3.9 million among the six continental champions. The final stages in London are a warmup for a planned full Women's Club World Cup in 2028.
European champion Arsenal will play ASFAR of Morocco after Gotham from the United States plays Corinthians of Brazil in back-to-back semifinals on Wednesday at the home of Premier League club Brentford.
The final at Arsenal's stadium on Feb. 1 will follow a third-place game at the same venue.
The champion gets $2.3 million and the beaten finalist $1 million, with $200,000 paid to each of the losing semifinalists.
Two continental champions already eliminated in earlier rounds — Auckland United from Oceania and Wuhan Chegu Jiangda representing Asia — each get $100,000.
The prize money is “a clear statement of the belief in women's club football and the players, teams and competitions driving its continued rise,” FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström said in a statement.
Arsenal got more than 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) in prize money for winning the UEFA Women's Champions League last season.
FIFA paid $1 billion among 32 teams in the men's 2025 Club World Cup. That tournament in the United States was backed by Saudi Arabian money to ensure influential European clubs got the prize money they sought to agree to take part.
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Three new cubs born to Cheetah Gamini in MP's Kuno Park; India's count rises to 38
Sheopur (MP) (PTI): Cheetah 'Gamini' has given birth to three cubs at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of these big cats in India to 38, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday.
Describing it as a "roaring" success of the government's ambitious Cheetah re-introduction programme, Yadav said it is a powerful symbol of the country’s determined and historic conservation effort.
Gamini was translocated to India from South Africa as part of the ambitious project launched in September 2022 to revive the population of the world's fastest land animal in India, which had gone extinct decades ago.
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Yadav, in a post on X, said, “Kuno welcomes three new cubs - A roaring new chapter at Kuno on the occasion of completion of 3 years of arrival of cheetahs from South Africa. Celebrations echo through Kuno National Park as Gamini, the South African cheetah and second-time mother, has brought 3 new cubs into the world."
This joyful arrival marks the ninth successful cheetah litter on Indian soil and takes the number of surviving Indian-born cubs to 27, he said.
With these newest additions, India's total cheetah population has now reached 38 - a powerful symbol of the country's determined and historic conservation effort, Yadav highlighted.
Each birth strengthens the foundation of Project Cheetah and reflects the passion, perseverance, and round-the-clock dedication of the field staff and veterinary teams who have nurtured this dream into reality, he said.
"A moment of pride for Kuno, and for India—may Gamini and her three little sprinters grow strong and carry the nation’s cheetah revival story forward with speed and grace," the minister added.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav noted that Madhya Pradesh is a powerful centre for cheetah reintroduction.
This is a historic achievement for the entire country in the direction of wildlife conservation, biodiversity, and environmental balance, the CM said in a post on X.
It is a matter of immense joy that under Project Cheetah, the female cheetah ‘Gamini’ who arrived from South Africa has given birth to three cubs, he said.
"With the completion of three years of cheetahs’ arrival at Kuno National Park in Sheopur district, this is the 9th successful birth (of a litter). The total number of cheetahs in India has now increased to 38," Yadav added.
Earlier this month, cheetah Aasha, translocated to India from Namibia, gave birth to five cubs in KNP.
