Eight Hearts players earn international call-ups with FIFA payments due
Edinburgh club’s players recognised by their countries
Eight Hearts players in total have been called up for international duty this month after Greece named Alexandros Kyziridis in their squad for the first time. The winger’s impressive form during his first year in Scotland earned recognition from the Greece coach Ivan Jovanovic, who has included him for upcoming friendlies against Sweden and Italy.
Kyziridis scored six goals and managed 11 assists in his first campaign at Tynecastle Park. He arrived on freedom of contract from the Slovakian club Zemplín Michalovce last summer and is now one of Hearts’ biggest assets. The 25-year-old has aspired to represent his country for some time and now gets the chance to impress national coaching staff.
Hearts also have Lawrence Shankland and goalkeeper Craig Gordon away with Scotland. Both men were named in Steve Clarke’s final 26-man World Cup squad, although Shankland is joining Rangers imminently. Two of their younger Riccarton team-mates, 19-year-old striker James Wilson and 21-year-old goalkeeper Liam McFarlane, are also involved with the Scottish squad for training this week. McFarlane will travel with the squad to America to be used as a training keeper.
Midfielder Cammy Devlin, who is out of contract at Tynecastle, is training with the Australia squad hoping to make their final World Cup selection. He is in Sarasota, Florida, as the Socceroos coach Tony Popovic casts his eye over a larger training group before whittling his squad down to 26.
Other Hearts players invovled in forthcoming internationals are Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov and Burkina Faso forward Landry Kabore. Chesnokov has options to return to his native Kazakhstan this summer but for now is focused on Kazakhstan’s friendlies against Armenia and Hungary. Kabore is also preparing for a friendly double-header as Burkina Faso take on Russia and Belarus.
Hearts stand to receive a substantial six-figure sum from FIFA as a result of their players’ involvement at the World Cup. FIFA’s Club Benefits Programme ensures compensation payments are made to clubs whose players take part in the tournament. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw a total of £155m paid out to clubs, and that amount has increased to £264m for this year’s edition.
Shankland and Gordon’s involvement with Scotland is expected to earn Hearts around £450,000 in total. Should Devlin make the Australia squad, that amount would increase to between £600,000 and £700,000. There would then be more money due if any of the two nations progressed from the World Cup group stage to the knockout phase.
Although Shankland, Gordon and Devlin are out of contract, Hearts will still benefit even if a player moves on from the club this summer. FIFA rules on the Club Benefits Programme state: “The programme compensates not only the club where each participating player is registered at the time of the tournament, but also any other clubs where such players applied their trade during the two-year ‘qualification’ phase that precedes the tournament.”
Although McFarlane will travel and train with Scotland throughout the World Cup, Hearts are unlikely to be compensated for his absence. The 21-year-old will not be named in Steve Clarke’s official squad and therefore will not be considered as actively involved by FIFA.