Three Scottish Premiership clubs are set to receive a cash windfall from UEFA.
This is as a result of their players being selected for the squad for the Euro 2024 tournament which gets underway on Friday evening when hosts Germany take in Scotland in the opening match of the competition on Munich.
UEFA are set to pay out a total of €140m for the release of players to the Euro 2024 final tournament group stages, that’s an increase of €10m on the previous competition that was held in 2021 due to covid.
Celtic will receive a tidy sum
It works out at around £140,000 for player so Celtic will receive a tidy sum of £560,000 as Scotland have four Celtic players in their squad – Callum, McGregor, James Forrest, Greg Taylor and Anthony Ralston. That sum could have been £700,000 had Denmark selected Matt O’Riley, his surprise omission remains topic of controversy among the Danish fans.
Hearts will do rather well
Hearts will also do rather well out of the Euro 2024 tournament with two players making the Scotland squad. They will pick up £280,000 and came close to getting £420,000 with Craig Gordon being one of two players who dropped out of the Scotland squad when Steve Clarke narrowed his squad travelling to Germany down from the provisional 28 to the 26 player limit.
Some much needed cash for Motherwell
Motherwell will also pick up some much needed cash, thanks to goalkeeper Liam Kelly making the squad ahead of the former Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon. The £140,000 extra income will be greatly appreciated at the Lanarkshire club.
These figures relate to group stage participation by the national side and the money is payable regardless of whether players are selected. For instance it’s doubtful that Greg Taylor or Liam Kelly will see much game-time, or maybe none at all, but their respective clubs will still receive the £140,000 for them making the squad.
Sums increase if Scotland makes it out of the group
Steve Clarke has a set target of getting out of the group stages for the first time by a Scotland side and if that happens then Celtic, Hearts and Motherwell will have additional sums added to their total UEFA pay-out as the figures above will increase should Scotland progress to the knockout phase for the first time.
Nothing for theRangers
Ryan Jack is out of contract and a free agent so there is no payment going to Ibrox for his inclusion in the Euro 2024 Scotland squad. And there was further frustration for theRangers when their defender John Souttar was the second player who failed to make the cut from the provisional squad.
Souttar missing out, together with Ryan Jack’s contract ending, has cost theRangers £280,000.
Despite having the highest wage bill in the Scottish Premiership last season, there will be none of theRangers players at Euro 2024 and the latest Ibrox club will not receive a payment from UEFA, unlike Celtic (a minimum of £560,000), Hearts (a minimum of £280,000) and Motherwell (a minimum of £140,000).
Enjoy your Wednesday afternoon.
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