Town will receive a reported $11,000 (£8,200) for each day George Hirst and Ali Al-Hamadi are at the World Cup finals through the FIFA Club Benefits Programme.

Hirst is with the Scotland squad and Al-Hamadi with Iraq for the finals in the US, Canada and Mexico, which get under way next week.

The FIFA Club Benefits Programme was set up in 2010 with a share of profits set aside for the teams whose players are at the finals regardless of how many minutes they play.

Ahead of this year’s tournament, the total figure allocated has increased to $355 million [£263.6 million], up 70 per cent on the previous competition. In addition to those at the finals, for the first time clubs will receive a share of the fund for their players having been involved in qualifiers.

Regarding what is due for those competing in the finals, the FIFA website states: “The total amount allocated for the FIFA Club Benefits Programme is divided by the total number of days spent at the tournament by all the players involved. This equation produces a “per player, per day” figure [believed to be $11,000 (£8,200)] that can be used to calculate the benefits owed.

“The daily participation figure is then multiplied by the number of days that a player spends at the tournament, which comprises the period from his release for the competition to the date of his national team’s last match.

“Therefore, the further a national team progress at the tournament, the more that team’s players will earn for their respective clubs. All players within a national team squad are allocated an equal benefit amount, irrespective of their playing time at the competition.”

Even if a player exits the competition at the group stage, a club would receive $250,000 [£186,000].

In addition to Hirst and Al-Hamadi, Town will be due further cash from former Blues Cameron Burgess and Axel Tuanzebe’s participation in the finals with Australia and DR Congo respectively as the clubs players represented in the two years prior to the tournament also due cash via the scheme.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters