The European season kicks off in approximately three weeks and I, for one, can't wait for the football season to start.
As always, the focus is going to be primarily on the English and Spanish leagues, which is not a surprise given that these are the leagues in which most of the best players in the world ply their trade.
What I am going to write about today is player wages in football.
Okay, we know that the best players get astronomical sums of money for showcasing their talents on the football field. We know that C Ron and some others get in excess of 150,000 pounds ($300,000) per week, just in wages (not taking personal endorsements into consideration).
Come to think of it, the annual per capita income in Switzerland, widely considered to have the highest standard of living in the world, is around $40,000. And these guys are getting $300,000 every week.
There is currently a huge debate going on as to whether there should be salary caps for top footballers.
Before I state my unbiased opinion, let me just clarify one thing. Many people assume that all footballers get astronomical sums of money. The truth is, it is simply the ones at the very top that get these kinds of wages.
The reason? Let me use a little bit of economics here. Good players are in very short supply, but the demand for good players is huge, almost infinite (clubs are always looking to buy good players). Because of this shortage of supply with respect to demand, clubs are prepared, and very often forced, to pay such wages to get the best talent.
- B/R Ticket Guide
However, go to the lower leagues and you will get a very different picture. You will see players playing in the second or third divisions, and very often having a second job because their football earnings are just not enough to feed the mouths in their family.
The problem is with us viewers and, to some extent, television.
As fans, most of us get to see only the top tier of different leagues around the world. I live in Bangladesh and have been watching football for 11 years now (I am 17). Never in my life have I watched a second division match of any league.
I have watched the English Premier League, Spanish Premiera Liga, and also the top rung of Italian and German leagues, but never a lower league match.
In truth, we all hear and rave on about the Messis and C Rons and Agueros of this world and some of us are no doubt jealous of the millions that they earn. However, I have undiluted conviction in my belief that if we look closely, we will see that 99 percent of players who play organized football (amateur or professional) do not make the cut as far as making it into the big time is concerned.
That is why I, from a completely neutral point of view, honestly believe that the top players deserve every penny they get.
It's not in every corner of the world that you get a C Ron or a Messi, and so when you do get one, you have to pay them well so that they stick with you. Not all footballers are stars, and even fewer are well paid.
There are many many teams in the lower rungs of national leagues whose wages for the whole year are less than what players like Kaka earn in a month.
My point is, we viewers have got to look at the bigger picture. Choosing football as a profession is not going to make you a millionaire. It's just that the ones who do make millions out of the game are so much in the spotlight that the real story falls under their shadow.
People pay good money to see the best players play and the players should get a fair deal of it. It is only fair that they do.
I might be deemed pro-labor and anti- administration here, but I am not. I am just stating my own humble opinion. After all, I am entitled to one, aren't I?
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.