NEWCASTLE, England _ The injury sustained by Michael Owen is going to hurt the English Football Association's pockets as much as the Newcastle striker.

The FA, which is responsible for insuring all England players while on national duty, will compensate the striker's club for as long as the recovery period takes.

"We have an insurance policy in place for all players that covers their salaries while they are injured," FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said.

Owen earns 103,000 pounds-a-week (US$190,000; euro150,000) with the Magpies and is expected to miss up to eight months, making a potential total claim of over 3 million pounds ($5.5 million; euro4.37 million).

He ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the second minute of England's 2-2 World Cup tie with Sweden.

Owen is the Premier League's second high-profile injury at the World Cup. Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse broke his leg days before the tournament in a warmup against China.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has suggested clubs would hesitate to release players to national duty if they end up losing them to long-term injury.

"It's clear there is a problem with the rules," Benitez said. "As a club, not only have we lost a player, we have lost big money."

Cisse was expected to be sold to Marseille for eight million pounds (US$14.7 million; euro11.7 million), but now the club might not be able to sell him _ and use the transfer funds to bolster the team _ since he is sidelined until December.

Although Cisse plays for Liverpool, the French soccer federation is liable to compensate Liverpool during the striker's absence.

Owen had just returned from his own metatarsal injury suffered in December that limited the 17 million pound (US$31.4 million; euro24.8 million) record Newcastle signing to 11 appearances last season.