Are Footballers Paid Too Much?
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I would like to take you back 9 months in time. On the 17th March 2012 Fabrice Muamba was playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur when he collapsed on the pitch. The paramedics who treated him realised he showed signs of a cardiac arrest. He was, in effect, dead, for 78 minutes. The cardiologists who saved him were likely to have earned £85,000 a year. Muamba, a 23 year old young footballer, earned 5 million pounds a year. Is it right that lifesavers are paid almost 60 times less than some of the lowest paid footballers in the Premier League?
It was in 1885 when the professional footballer was born. The FA announced that it was “in the interests of Association Football, to legalise the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions.” So it was that Blackburn Rovers spent £615 pounds on wages in the 1885-86 season. 127 years on from that moment, in the modern day, footballers are paid over 100,000 times that amount. The most well paid player in the world at the current time, Samuel Eto`o earns a staggering £17,418,240 every year. That equates to 60p every second.
But… This brings up the question why? Many would say that footballers deserve the money they receive: they entertain millions of people worldwide. However, others would argue that the money footballers are paid would be better justified in improving the lives of others by investing in schools, hospitals and giving to charities.
Those who think that footballer’s wages are justified point out that football players work hard every day by training long hours every week. The time and dedication they put into football is only worth it if they get paid well. Footballers are talented sportsmen and deserve to be rewarded for their skill. Furthermore, the majority of footballers are not at all overpaid. Only the elite footballers, the best in the world at what they do, are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Also,
It was in 1885 when the professional footballer was born. The FA announced that it was “in the interests of Association Football, to legalise the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions.” So it was that Blackburn Rovers spent £615 pounds on wages in the 1885-86 season. 127 years on from that moment, in the modern day, footballers are paid over 100,000 times that amount. The most well paid player in the world at the current time, Samuel Eto`o earns a staggering £17,418,240 every year. That equates to 60p every second.
But… This brings up the question why? Many would say that footballers deserve the money they receive: they entertain millions of people worldwide. However, others would argue that the money footballers are paid would be better justified in improving the lives of others by investing in schools, hospitals and giving to charities.
Those who think that footballer’s wages are justified point out that football players work hard every day by training long hours every week. The time and dedication they put into football is only worth it if they get paid well. Footballers are talented sportsmen and deserve to be rewarded for their skill. Furthermore, the majority of footballers are not at all overpaid. Only the elite footballers, the best in the world at what they do, are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Also,