2003 WC unveils $5 million prize fund

The 2003 World Cup will offer teams and players $5 million in prize money, five times as much as at the 1999 tournament in England, organisers said on Saturday.

The winning team will claim $2 million in addition to earlier match earnings, with the losing finalists taking home $800,000.

"The players are the key," 2003 World Cup director Ali Bacher said in a statement from the tournament organisers.

"The game is about them. It is therefore logical from our side to substantially increase the rewards to benefit those teams who excel at the highest level of the game.

"We also believe that this prize money will be a major motivational factor for all the competing teams."

Even a team losing all six of its pool matches will bank $30,000.

The prize money will be paid jointly by the International Cricket Council and the United Cricket Board of South Africa, the statement said.

Bacher said the substantial increase in prize money at the last World Cup was due to bigger sponsorships.

The losing semifinalists will earn $400 000, with fifth place worth $150 000 and sixth $80 000.

The winners of each of the 42 pool matches will be paid $10,000 and the losers $5,000. Each of the nine Super Six games in the second phase of the tournament offers $40,000 to the winners and $20,000 to the losers.

The World Cup opening ceremony is scheduled for Cape Town on February 8 and will be followed by the first match, between South Africa and West Indies.

The final is set for Johannesburg on March 23. Fourteen teams are due to take part.

Mail Cricket Editor