To think it’s ridiculous that footballer Mohammed Salah is now earning £1m a week?

[KimberleyClark]

He earns an amount in a week that most ordinary people could live on for the rest of their lives!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/29/liverpool-mohamed-salah-earning-at-least-1m-a-week-adviser-ramy-abbas

As long as there are people paying to watch them do their 'great' work (chasing a ball or showing off their 'amazing' lives and bodies), they will continue to market useless things

Never see Olympic athletes described in such derogatory terms - sheer snobbery

Spot on.

Oh, give over.

Lovely team and we fans are very lovely!

Why just salah?

Mo has a unique talent and of all the footballers he is not the one to be furious about. Rapey Ronaldo etc yes, be angry about that. Mo is a decent bloke and does a lot of good for the game and race relations in Liverpool.

@Efacsen Olympic athletes don't make that amount of money, do they?

To be fare Olympic athletes don't sell incredible amount of merchandise and sponsored all over the world. Absolute most people in my country wouldn't care about Mo Farah, but there is quite some number of Liverpool/MUnited/Chelsea fans.
Football sells everywhere, has no border. National represetation in Olympics doesn't have that bog appeal internationally. They still make loads more than average person though. Just bh running, jumping etc. Like "jist kicking a ball"

Salah doesn't just make them many in UK, but around the globe

Aren't some Olympians professionals like the ones who play football, tennis and basketball?

I used to love football and other sports when they were sports. They have become business, and not infrequently, money laundering.

It's alright to pay for fun. I just don't have fun contributing for outrageous profit.

And I'm sure OP didn't mean Salah specifically, it's just one example of many.

This and did you know Mo Salah gives a lot of money to charity?

I was going to say that Mo Salah is known for his charitable giving too. This includes all his work supporting girls' education. He spent years being underpaid in comparison with other similar footballers in the Premier League. I'm writing this as a Man Utd fan but he really doesn't deserve to be singled out. It's not footballers but all those people who got PPE contracts which didn't deliver or people involved in HS2 who really have taken the taxpayer for a ride.

www-empireofthekop-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.empireofthekop.com/2022/06/14/mo-salah-places-eighth-in-sunday-times-giving-list-after-charitable-donations-in-the-past-year/amp/?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16960824259528&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.empireofthekop.com%2F2022%2F06%2F14%2Fmo-salah-places-eighth-in-sunday-times-giving-list-after-charitable-donations-in-the-past-year%2F

Mo Salah is the 8th most generous person in the UK in the last year.

Yes, the 'professional' ones are part of the big business, but it wasn't always like this, the 'not professionals' are still the majority of Olympic athletes. They are their for the sport and they make money, but not outrageous amounts.

Very very much loved and adored.

I liked him until he tackled his teammate because he wanted a strike on goal (and didn't score).

But I don't object if market forces have deemed him to be worth £1 million a year. That's supply and demand.

Sorry a week

I get why some people don't like being called stupid. It's alright to make money out of sports, it's alright to have fun watching people playing sports professionally. Don't get me wrong. This is not about having fun, or making money in sports. It's just about the outrageous figures. Stop trying to divert the issue in question. If you think Salah (the tip of the iceberg) and the others behind him (football club, sponsons, and who know who) are working hard enough to deserve that amount of money, fair enough. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that won't change the fact, outrageous amount of money.

I get why some people don't like being called stupid.
Only some people don't like it? The rest really must be stupid.

If I think I'm being stupid about some particular issue, like the one discussed in this thread, I would take it seriously and try to undestand why. It's just one of many human traits, it's not personal, you know that, don't you?

Nobody should earn that amount of money. Its irrelevant if they have spent years honing their skills, if their smile lights up the world,if they are extrodinarily skillful, if they bring pleasure to millionsand if they give loads of it away. Its completely obscene and whilst they should be well rewarded that's just ridiculous.

But the people you accused of being stupid for enjoying football aren't stupid so they don't need to understand do they?

Anyone can apply for the job though

Quite. Nobody ever starts a thread about that on here though. The worst thing about football on here is always, always the player wages. Nurse salaries normally get a mention.

I can't get angry about this when our government contains way richer people. People who actively make our lives more miserable and spend public funds to line their mates pockets while kids starve.

There aren't many footballers who are household names globally so it makes sense that these players would be offered huge sums to represent brands, which makes up a huge chunk of Salah's annual income.

As for his actual wage, if the club can afford it then I'd rather the players get a good chunk of the profits than the owners pocketing it. Football is a short career for most. Fair play to them if they manage to set themselves up for life.

Football is a billion pound industry, those at the top are always going to earn mega money, especially now Saudi/Qatari teams are throwing mad cash around.

BUT these players bring in billions of profit to that industry, so who should get that money if not them? The fat cats in the boardroom?

No thanks.