The 33rd Africa Cup of Nations winners will pocket R80m [€4.5m] after the Confederation of African Football increased the prize money.
On Sunday, the 2021 Afcon finals roar to life with 24 teams battling it out for the top prize.
Caf president Patrice Motsepe last year indicated that there were plans to increase the prize money from R69.4m [€3.9m].
“We want to increase the prize money, and we are in discussions with sponsors because we have to show the world that African football is as good and amongst the best in the world,” Motsepe said during the Afcon draw.
“One of the things we want to do is to provide on top of the prize money which the winning nation will win, is to put aside prize money so that the country that wins the Afcon next year, there is the prize money that will go to the players so that we’ll not experience the problems we’ve had in the past.”
He added that they were aware that players were demotivated when they qualified because they didn’t know how much they would earn in bonuses.
The runners-up will earn R47m [€2.64m] while the third-place playoff winners will walk away with R39m [€2.2m], the same as semi-finalists.
The quarter-finalists are entitled to R12.5m [€703,361], while each of the 24 countries entering the competition will receive R9.5m [€534,000] for participation.
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