Revealed: Six-figure fees received by Hearts and Hibs from World Cup prize pot

Hearts and Hibs both received six-figure sums from Fifa due to player participation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Hearts received the larger chunk of cash, and the third most among Scottish top-flight clubs behind Celtic and Rangers, getting $325,775 (£248,802) due to Nathaniel Atkinson, Cammy Devlin and Kye Rowles being called up by the Socceroos. The latter played in all four of Australia’s games, while Atkinson started the opening match against France.

Money was distributed at around £8409 per day per player. However, this total was also divided three ways: between the club with a player on their books, the club were the player was registered the previous year (so season 2021/22), and the year before that.

This meant Hibs’ total wasn’t far behind that of their Edinburgh rivals, coming in at £229,959 (£175,613) despite not having a player in action at the tournament. Martin Boyle still counted as being away with Australia despite the discovery of a knee injury before the finals which ultimately meant he missed the rest of the season, while the Hibees also received money for Jackson Irvine. He, like Rowles, played in all of the Socceroos games and was a Hibs player for six months in 2021.

Cammy Devlin (far left), Martin Boyle (second left) and Kye Rowles (far right) were all called up by Australia for the World Cup in Qatar last year. Picture: SNS

In total, Fifa paid out $209 million (£160m) to clubs around the world for the release of 837 footballers. Dundee United, St Johnstone and St Mirren were the other three Scottish clubs to benefit from the tournament, which was ultimately won by Argentina following a thrilling final victory over France.