A. Tapinas revealed how much exactly 'Žalgiris' has already earned from UEFA bonuses.

2026-08-05 10:34 © E. Žaldario

Vilnius "Žalgiris" will begin its fight on Thursday in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, where the Lithuanian club faces the challenge from Split "Hajduk".

As the important battle approaches, the club president Andrius Tapinas posted an article on his "Substack" profile, revealing how much actual money the Vilnius team has already earned from UEFA bonuses.

"Having overcome the first two opponents - "Petrovac" and Tbilisi "Dinamo" - Vilnius "Žalgiris" secured a bonus of 1.075 million euros from UEFA.

To better understand the financial benefit, one should look at the budget for this year presented at the beginning of 2026 - it only included the guaranteed minimum payout for participating in the Conference League. 325,000 euros - that is what we will have to settle for, even if it's the same "Petrovac".

For each stage cleared, UEFA adds 375,000 euros, so if we defeat "Hajduk", we would receive the same amount again. Once we clear the last qualifying stage, a whole different math will begin; such money is now calculated by "Kauno Žalgiris", and I will write about them if there is a reason to write.

This means we have a surplus that we can transfer to next year's budget, but how much is it really?

De jure - 750,000 euros.

De facto - unfortunately, much less, as we need to deduct:

• charter flights and hotels, local transfers, meals

• bonuses for the team, especially after shoutouts in the locker room "double bonus”

• TV broadcast costs

Roughly calculating, it comes to about 450,000 euros. The charter to Tbilisi was especially expensive, where I started feeling my heart race as the prices rolled in, and we gradually began looking for other options, but Tadas said the team has to fly like people, and all inquiries stopped.

So, in reality, from that bonus surplus, 300,000 euros remains. Which is also not bad, as having 300K and not having 300K is actually 600K," wrote A. Tapinas.