Cast away the yoke of Coronavirus. Let’s talk sports. Sports is a tonic, an elixir. Sports heals, mends. It excites the spirit, stirs the soul, awakens the body, especially if it is the very sport you love. I love football. I played it in my younger days. I have grown up to keep loving the round leather sport the more.
With good football, I have no dull moments. One of my pastimes this lockdown period is to watch my collection of recorded Arsenal matches. My PVR decoder enables me to record any programme of my choice. It’s easy to guess. It’s the best of football that catches my fancy for recording. And Arsenal, the emblem and torchbearer of the beautiful game in its purest form, is number one in my choice list
This global lockdown season when even the English Premier League, EPL, one of the best organized leagues in the world, is forced into a holiday, my recorded Arsenal matches come handy. But this forced off-season has also given me the opportunity to reflect on life without sports. It’s simply unimaginable the tawdry humdrum that life would have assumed. Aside the fun and fiesta associated with sports, it has in modern times assumed a critical component of the global economy. Current statistics on clubs and sportsmen and women point to a world of sports as a poverty alleviator, wealth creator and job creator.
Let’s play football. The top 10 richest footballers have a combined net worth in excess of $3.8 billion. That’s a humungous amount when you consider the background of some of these big money earners. By current ranking, the richest footballer is not the best known soccer prodigy. He is largely unknown in the football agora but, hey, the guy is rich courtesy of oil money. With a fat purse of $20 billion, Faiq Bolkiah, who hails from oil-rich nation of Brunei is the world’s richest footballer. The 20-year-old plays for EPL club Leicester City. He is currently the captain of the Brunei national team. Son of the Prince of Brunei, Jefri Bolkiah, he’s a cousin to the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, famed for his outlandish flamboyance and free-spending lifestyle. Bolkiah may not be a fitting example of how sports can change the fortunes of a man.
And this brings us to the story of Cristiano Ronaldo who sits at number two on the list valued at $450 million. In Ronaldo, we see a child that was fated to live. In the documentary titled ‘RONALDO’ his mother, Dolores, admitted that she wanted to abort him. She was herself struggling with life and when she became pregnant with Cristiano all she wished for was to abort the child. In the same documentary, Ronaldo talked about having to cope with his brother and late father’s struggles with alcoholism. But here he is today. A child that was never to be has become one of the richest and greatest footballers in the world. Sports can change things, build a life and exalt the very scum of the earth.
The king of the Catalans, Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina, is next with at $400 million net worth. Recall that this same Messi was born with a health defect that ordinarily would have ruled him out of active sports for life. But here he is; the most decorated player with the Ballon d’or, the most prestigious individual award for football players and clubs. The once sickly Messi is one of the greatest of all time. Sports is sweet and it pays.
On the list of richest players is the iconic Swedish player Zlatan Ibrahimovic ($190m); Neymar Jr. of Brazil and PSG ($185m); Wayne Rooney of England ($160m); Gareth Bale of Wales and Real Madrid ($125m); Andres Iniesta, the legend of Spanish football ($120m); Eden Hazard, the Belgian combustible midfield turbine now of Real Madrid ($100m); and Paul Pogba ($85m). Take a look at this list. Some of these players and hordes of those trailing them on the fortunes log could have ended up as poor or at best average income earners but they rode on the wings of football to crest the loop of wealth.
Let’s play a little tennis. The world’s top 10 tennis players share a combined fortune vault valued at $1.482 billion. Top of the class is the master of the court Roger Federer worth over $450 million. Federer is undoubtedly the greatest tennis player of all time. With over 1,200 wins, a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, and a mind-blowing 103 career titles, Federer is well worth his badge.
Federer is distantly followed by Novak Djokovic ($220m), the lanky Serbian star who has garnered more on-court earnings than any player. He has to his racket a goodly $143 million in on-court prize money. King of clay Rafael Nadal is third with ($200m). The double Olympic gold medallist has won 19 Grand Slam singles, 5 Davis Cup doubles in his eventful career. Last year alone, he earned $26 million from endorsements playing sweet tennis.
In tow is our own Sister Act, Serena Williams, the richest female tennis player with a net worth of $180 million. Serena plays sensational tennis and she has won many converts for tennis with her style, smile and may be sensual allure. Bullish with 73 titles, 23 Grand Slam singles, 14 Grand Slam doubles, 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles and four gold medals, she is the real McCoy is female tennis earning a chunky and unprecedented $92.7 million in prize money in the history of female tennis.
Every other sport has its own long list of millionaires. Basketball, cricket, professional wrestling all have their respective sweetness and fiscal sauce. Now you see why nations are deliberately promoting sports, encouraging the blooming of academies and sporting nurseries. African nations should push more for sports development. Nigerian governments, at all levels, should deliberately consider using sports as a buffer against poverty and privation. Africa and much more Nigeria has an outstanding youth bulge. That’s potential waiting to be husbanded.
Nigeria has for so long neglected sports development. This is exemplified by the neglect suffered by the nation’s stadia in Lagos and Abuja and others owned by the states across the country. Football clubs owned by states only thrive at the behest and passion of the governors. If a sitting governor is a soccer lover, the state’s club blooms. When a governor who cares less about soccer takes over, the club whittles, dies. No sustainability.
But we still have the opportunity to build our sports profile. A conscious effort should be made to forge a strong public-private sector partnership. The private sector is always willing to build their brands around sports but the corrosive corruption perpetrated by our sports administrators chase them away. Scam and brand don’t mix. The minister of sports, Sunday Dare, a man who has succeeded in his previous stations in life, must roll up his sleeves. His best legacy would be to break with the rusty past of Nigerian sports, engender transparency in the system, build consensus among stakeholders and insist on merit, not quota, in the administration of sports. Dare can do it. Let’s play.