Italy players on 170,000 euro win bonus

FLORENCE, Italy, May 15 (AFP)
Players with Italy's World Cup squad can count on a 170,000 euro win bonus if the 'Azzurri' lift the most prestigious trophy in world sport at Yokohama on June 30.
The agreement, reached Wednesday at a 20-minute meeting between officials and a delegation of senior players at the Coverciano training camp, will see the players get a reduced figure if they finish runners-up and 40,000 euro if they finish third or fourth.
Senior players Paolo Maldini, Angelo Di Livio, Luigi di Biagio and Fabio Cannavaro were the players' representatives and said they were unfazed that the bonuses were lower than France 98 because of the current budget crisis of Italy's sporting governing bodies.
Di Livio, who recently said he would take a pay cut to stay with cash-strapped Fiorentina, said: "It was a quiet chat. Austerity is penalising football at all levels and it's not a problem that it is less than four years ago.
"Personally I would pay ouut of my own pocket to win the World Cup."