Michael Brown: Managers share in Fifa bonus too

Ricki Herbert and the All Whites management team split a bonus of "a few hundred thousand dollars" for qualifying for the World Cup.

It's understood Herbert received the greatest share - with one source saying it was "more than $50,000 but less than $100,000".

The money was from the US$8 million New Zealand Football received from Fifa. The smallest share reserved for management, which included Herbert's assistants Brian Turner and Raul Blanco as well as medical and technical staff, was about $10,000.

While Herbert's bonus is significant when placed alongside his salary of $50,000 as All Whites coach, it is nowhere near the level of other World Cup coaches.

Ghana boss Milovan Rajevac reportedly banked US$500,000 for getting the Black Stars to the World Cup. It is also much smaller than most New Zealand players earned by qualifying for and playing at the World Cup.

As outlined in the Herald on Sunday months ago, All Whites players took a 40 per cent share of the Fifa money, split according to the number of qualifying and World Cup games in which they were involved.

Ben Sigmund, Leo Bertos and David Mulligan were among the higher earners with around $200,000. This amount would have increased significantly had New Zealand progressed.

Herbert was almost certainly the lowest-paid national coach. England's Fabio Capello topped the list with an estimated annual salary of $12.8 million, while Diego Maradona was reported to bank $1.55 million and France's disgraced coach Raymond Domenech $933,000.

Money is a reason why Herbert might take up an offer to coach overseas. Although he still has one year to run on his $200,000 contract with the Wellington Phoenix, he has attracted interest offshore.

Herbert and NZF chairman Frank van Hattum pair have a "gentleman's agreement" to ensure Herbert continues as All Whites coach regardless of whether he remains in New Zealand or not.

NZF chief executive Michael Glading said they would be comfortable for Herbert to remain in a part-time capacity for up to two years but might require him to commit full-time when qualifying gets under way for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

"He's hell-bent on taking the team to Brazil. I'm pretty confident we can sort something out."