This is a very UAE thing.

You do well in a major competition, especially a major soccer competition, and you can expect a little something to show the appreciation of the rulers.

In this case, it was announced today that every player on the Al Ahli side, which reached the final of the Asian Champions League (before falling 1-0 to Guangzhou Evergrande) will receive 500,000 dirhams — or about $135,000 — from the chairman of the club, who happens to be the crown prince of Dubai.

(That’s him, Sheikh Hamdan, in the middle of the players, above.)

To be clear, that’s $135,000 … each. For professionals already getting paid by the Ahli club

There is quite a bit of precedence for this sort of move.

In 2012, the players who qualified to play in the soccer tournament at the London 2012 Olympics, each received 500,000 dirhams ($135,000, remember?) from the president, Sheikh Khalifa.

In early 2013, after winning the Gulf Cup of Nations, in Bahrain, the players eventually divvied up a mountain of cash, totaling 174 million dirhams, according to The National, showered on the team from six of the seven emirates, as well as the president …

And if we count 22 players and the coaches, and maybe some staff … well, let’s be conservative and call it 35 people … that works out to about 6.1 million dirhams each — which is $1.66 million … each.

So, the soccer players around here certainly don’t lack for incentive.