Ghana's Hearts of Oak will join Egyptian club Zamalek in seeking compensation from FIFA for the postponement of the World Club Championship, officials said on Monday.

Africa's two representatives for the championship had suffered a massive financial blow because of FIFA's decision on Friday to put off the event, they said.

"We have incurred a loss and we'll need to be compensated and compensated well," Hearts board member Ernest Thompson said in a BBC radio interview. "We are talking about millions of dollars."

Zamalek's president Kamal Darwish told Reuters on Sunday he would seek to discuss compensation with the other clubs affected.

"We spent large amounts of money to prepare the team to take part in the championship...to raise its competiveness," Darwish said.

FIFA postponed the 12-team event, scheduled for Spain in late July, until 2003, citing financial difficulties and fixture congestion.

All 12 sides had been guaranteed $2.7 million for participating in the event with the winner earning $8 million. Thompson said his club, who won the African Champions League last December, had already entered into sponsorship agreements and had not sold players to clubs in Europe because they would be needed to participate in Spain.

"We've made a lot of commitments and signed a lot of agreements. Some of our players suspended a chance to play for clubs in Europe in order to compete in the tournament and possibly get even better deals for themselves," he added.