Newcastle to receive Owen payout

LONDON, England -- English Premier League club Newcastle United are to be paid £100,000 ($206,444) per week in compensation for as long as Michael Owen is out of action after being injured playing for England last Friday.

The striker is expected to be sidelined for up to a month after suffering a thigh strain in the first half of England's 1-0 friendly win over Austria in Vienna.

The English Football Association confirmed on Tuesday that Newcastle would be eligible for a payout under the terms of their insurance, which covers clubs for players' wages up to a maximum of £100,000 pounds a week.

Owen's latest injury occurred 16 months after Newcastle's former chairman Freddy Shepherd criticized the FA over the compensation for the cruciate knee ligament injury the player suffered during the 2006 World Cup.

FA officials have emphasized that decisions about reimbursement to clubs are solely decided by the insurers,not the association.

"The FA takes out policies to cover for injuries sustained on international duty," said an FA spokesman.

"This figure can be up to £100,000 a week but it is not the FA who pay this money out, it is our insurers, if they deem it is fit to do so."

Newcastle have not enjoyed the best of luck with Owen since he signed a four-year contract in August 2005, after returning to England after a spell with Real Madrid.

On the last day of 2005 he suffered a broken foot playing against Tottenham and after complications was unable to return until April 29, 2006.

He was in England's World Cup line-up against Sweden in the summer but damaged his knee in the first minute and was back on the sidelines until April this year.

There was another setback in September when he needed a hernia operation but he made a brisk return and scored the winner for Newcastle against Everton.

In the latest move Newcastle have sent Owen to Germany for treatment by high-profile specialist Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller Wohlfahrt.

Magpies manager Sam Allardyce told Tuesday's Newcastle Evening Chronicle: "We have sent Michael to Germany to see Dr Wohlfahrt in a bid to speed up his recovery from his thigh injury.

"But at this moment in time, we do no see the point in changing our view that we will be without Michael for between four and six weeks.

"If we start talking about him coming back earlier there will be disappointment if he does not.

"However if we can get him back quicker after Dr Wohlfahrt's treatment, then it will be a huge bonus for us." E-mail to a friend