The South African Football Players Union says that they too are concerned by the prevalent story of soccer players falling from grace and some of them even dying as paupers. Recently, former Bafana goal-minder, Emille Baron joined the long list of players, reported to have hit rock-bottom and now apparently living on handouts.
Every now and then, South Africans are greeted with shock and horror by the “fall from grace” of sportsmen and women, who were once at the prime of their careers and living quite well-off.
In recent times, the story of former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper raised eyebrows after reports emanated that the shot-stopper was down and out and living of a state grant of about R500 per month.
The South African Football Players Union are just as concerned but say the problem is bigger than the players squandering their fortunes but rather a societal issue.
“But it’s not only about him having wasted money, he had what, a 5-year contract and he was expected to make life decisions on that. You consider an Emile Baron who went through a South African school system that did not tell him anything about finances. It does not tell him anything about signing a contract,” says the President of the South African Football Players Union Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe,
In short, while a footballer’s career spans an average 10-year period that leaves little room to grow wealth. And without the structures to help them save up for their futures, stories such as these will continue being the norm.
“Part of the problem is that we need to look deeper into this thing called tax. This tax issue, so that we have a sports tax. Football or sports, but football in particular was never taken into consideration, now we know that the financial system relies on a credit record, and you need to have a very good financial record. When you earn example R100 000, the taxman comes and takes 45%. Your R45 000 is gone and there you have a two-year, three-year contract. Every month that is how much is going to tax for 24 or so months, when will you start to build tax?” Gaoshubelwe explains.
While sport’s governing bodies and government are tasked with playing a more structured role in assisting players, it is the footballers themselves who must also remember that their lives are literally at their feet.
“The young men themselves must take responsibility and make sure that they go out there and invest because we can’t have this thing over and over again. The system does not favour them they need to counter it and make sure that with the little cents they have they must go and buy their future,” Gaoshubelwe elaborates.
Unfortunately, it is a story that keeps playing itself over and over again.
