LONDON: Chelsea manager Avram Grant said on Friday captain John Terry deserved every penny of the salary that Britain’s Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe described as “obscene”.
“I think people need to understand how he led the team with full commitment in a very difficult time at Chelsea. For this, he deserves every penny,” Grant told reporters.
Sutcliffe said on Thursday that Terry’s reported weekly wage of between £130,000 and £150,000 was obscene and said that football was in danger of alienating grassroots fans.
Grant, however, said that the salaries should be compared to those of other top sportsmen and women as well as entertainers.
“Everybody likes to speak about the money of football players but why does nobody speak about a singer who gets up to sing for one hour and gets more money than everybody?” he asked.
“Why don’t they speak about a very, very talented tennis player in Maria Sharapova who is 20 years old and I think earns more money than any other tennis player?
“This is show business and even if you think it is an easy life, I don’t think it is so easy. Players have a very short time to be a professional and if they succeed, they deserve the money.”
Several other managers were also quick to defend the pay of their players, including Manchester City’s Sven-Goran Eriksson, who earned a salary estimated at up to £4mil when he was in charge of England.
“This question has been asked for about 25 years since I came into professional football,” said the Swede.
“I think you have to see a footballer today like an artist, someone who can move you with their performance. Football is the biggest sport and I think it is only fair players earn good money as they are finished by the time they are 35.”
Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson said: “It is very easy to say footballers get paid too much. In some cases, I would not argue with that.
“However, there are also some tennis players who get great sponsorship deals but never win a tournament.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “Whether it is too much or not it’s not down to me to judge it. Of course what is terrible is that people don’t earn enough money.
“For the people who earn money it’s down to their attitude and what they put in to justify it.”
Unsurprisingly Gordon Taylor, head of the player’s union, said he was incredulous at Sutcliffe’s statement.
“I don’t want to get into knocking anyone else but is the salary of a film star obscene? Are the salaries of some of our top TV stars obscene?
“I am sorry but there are a lot more people around who earn a lot more than John Terry for doing a lot less. John Terry’s courage and ability is a massive incentive for young children to take up sports, which is what I would have thought the Sports Minister would be pushing for.
“He should be grateful to John and our other top players for proving to youngsters that if you work hard and you commit yourself the rewards can be fantastic.” – Reuters
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