This article delves into the financial struggles of South African footballers, revealing the stark contrasts in earnings between football, rugby, and cricket.
Image: IOL Graphic
Pay scandals in South African professional football seem to be a lot more prevalent than in rugby and cricket.
In October last year, Premier Soccer League (PSL) second-tier club Leruma United were accused of allegedly paying some of their players as little as R1,000 per month. A few months later, in December, top-flight outfit Royal AM couldn’t pay their players ahead of the festive season after the South African Revenue Service (Sars) put them under curatorship.
There always seems to be some sort of struggle when it comes to footballers at the lower end of the local game’s tax bracket, especially when it comes to clear guidelines in terms of how much they actually need to earn.
Shockingly, there is no prescribed minimum wage agreement for professional footballers in the Betway Premiership and the ABC Motsepe League.
In terms of the law, as of March 1, 2024, the minimum wage in South Africa is R27.58 per hour, or R4,779.38 per month for a 40-hour work week. But it seems some teams still try to bend the rules to pay players even less than that.
There is already a massive disparity between what the lowest earners in South Africa’s top flight are paid and the cream of the Mzansi crop. Local sport agent Mike Makaab recently said on a podcast that the highest paid players could earn up to 40 times more than their fellow footballers.
In a survey conducted by the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) in all the way back in 2016, the players had suggested a base figure of R35 000 for those playing in the top league and R18 500 for those in the second-tier.
A few years ago the International Federation of Professional Footballers, to which Safpu is affiliated, conducted a survey that deduced that 38.4% of the PSL players earned less than R8 000 a month.
If R8,000 is the benchmark in terms of a generous figure we can use, then this is still a lot less than their cricket counterparts.
Rookie contracts for cricketers are set at a base salary of R240 000 per year. It’s even more for rugby players, where a professional player playing in the United Rugby Championship for the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions may not earn less than R35 000 per month.
Even semi-professional and academy cricketers and rugby players earn more than the national minimum wage. A semi-pro rugby star must get a minimum of R6,790 a month.
In cricket, it differs from franchise to franchise, with apprentice players earning anywhere from R5,000 to R10,000.
But in football apprentices or academy players basically get a stipend, of between R1,500 and R2,500. This is also dependent on the club, as many of the bigger clubs pay their promising youngsters in the region of R10,000 to keep them on the books.
However, footballers at the top end of the spectrum make a very good living, with some players earning over R600,000 a month. This is much more than the maximum contract for a professional domestic cricketer, who can only earn a R1.3 million a year in South Africa.
Rugby players, though, are the highest earners of the big-three sports, with marquee Springboks playing at home earning over R1 million per month. Rumours are that figure could even be closer to R2 million for a select few
However, the challenges in football run deeper than just the lack of a base salary. Most footballers are people of colour, who usually come from poor communities and backgrounds, and this influences their decision to take less money because of an eagerness to try and make it.
It’s something that football business manager Grant Nieuwenhuys sees all the time.
“These boys are desperate to make it, so they sell themselves short sometimes. A lot of the boys don’t hold their nerve in negotiations because they have this ambition as a professional footballer and to help their families,” Nieuwenhuys told IOL Sport.
“We can’t compare the rugby and cricket boys with the footballers. The family dynamics, education and background are massive factors. Most cricketers and rugby players come through a school and high performance system before going pro. Most footballers leave school to try and make it.”
Nieuwenhuys says all these factors also contribute to footballers falling on hard times after they finish their playing careers. Even those who get these top salaries struggle to make, mainly because of the lifestyles they try to maintain when hitting the big time.
“You can try and guide players. But at the end of the day, it’s their money. They will nod at everything you say, but there are a lot of outside influences,” Nieuwenhuys said.
“A player’s salary may go from R20,000 to R90,000 after a big move. I would then advise them that their lifestyle doesn’t have to go from R20k to R90k.
“I tell the guys to save their money, because a football career can come to an end in a blink of an eye. It’s a very unpredictable industry. Because many players come from nothing and they tend to be like a deer caught in the headlights when they earn big money.
“They want to buy expensive cars instead of buying a flat or property. I always tell them you can’t buy a car that you pay off over 72 months if you just have a two-year contract. Life happens, you don’t know what lies ahead for you.
“I would rather have a player live within his means than have something to fall back on after retirement. It may not carry you for the rest of your life, but it will give you some time to figure things out.”
However, Nieuwenhuys says there is light at the end of the tunnel, with the new generation of players looking at the future a lot more than in the past.
Hopefully, the people paying footballers also start to see the light. Surely there must be a set minimum wage for soccer stars in this country.
@JohnGoliath82
IOL