Georgia’s gamers are in line for an sudden payday at Euro 2024 after a billionaire former prime minister promised to pay out greater than $10 million following their shock win over Portugal.
The Georgian workforce can double its cash with one other win over Spain on Sunday within the spherical of 16.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, who based the ruling Georgian Dream social gathering and is now its honorary chairman, initially supplied the cost of 30m Georgian lari ($10.7m) earlier than the event on the situation that Georgia reached the knockout levels.
They did so after targets from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze gave Georgia a 2-0 win over a Portugal workforce led by Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday for one of many largest shocks at any European Championship.
Ivanishvili confirmed the bonus in a press release carried by Imedi TV on Thursday and stated that an equally massive sum could be paid out to the workforce if Georgia beat Spain.
The assertion stated Ivanishvili “congratulates the Georgian soccer workforce on their biggest victory.”
Georgia are in a significant worldwide soccer event for the primary time and weren’t extensively anticipated to progress previous the group stage in Germany.
Ivanishvili, 68, is a large soccer fan and has been attending a few of the workforce’s video games in Germany. Ivanishvili, who’s estimated to be price $4.9 billion in 2023 by Forbes, additionally has French and Russian passports. One among his sons, Bera, is a well-known rapper in Georgia.
Info from Julien Laurens contributed to this report.