Something must be done about the amount of money footballer’s earn. In 1981, Bryan Robson became the first £1,000-a-week footballer. People were outraged. Now, the average salary for a top flight player in England is around £100,000. A week, remember. Whilst all of us are feeling the squeeze, looking to save money and avoid finding ourselves in another economic crisis, Wayne Rooney is on approximately 250k-a-week, adding up to 12 million pounds a year for you non-mathematicians. No wonder Manchester United are in debt! My question is, isn’t it time to introduce a wage cap to stop these footballers from earning obscene amounts of money?

Before you ask, I love football. I have done so since my first kick of a ball, but I still can’t quite understand why these men can earn more in a single week than what an NHS nurse would be paid for up to six years of life-saving work or what an Army private would expect to receive for serving almost 7 years on the front lines of Iraq or Afghanistan. Rio Ferdinand stated in an interview with a tabloid newspaper that he believed that our troops should be paid the same amount of money that footballer’s earn, “These guys are the real heroes. They should definitely be on the wages we’re on.” Before you say, That Rio, he’s such a hero! you don’t actually see him donating any of his wages to the British Legion or offering to pay more in taxes to support his beloved heroes do you?

In August of this year, Cameroonian Samuel Etoo completed an expensive deal from Inter Milan to Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala. There were a few eyebrows raised of course, but mainly because everyone was asking, Anzhi what now? If it was ambition that drove Etoo then surely he’d stay with Inter Milan, one of Europe’s most prestigious teams rather than sign for an unknown Russian outfit? At 30 years old the Cameroonian still has plenty to offer and was seemingly more interested in a move to England, but with such an incredible financial package on the table he obviously couldn’t resist. He is rumoured to be earning an astonishing £320,000-a-week, yet still there is no uprising or calls for a wage cap to be created.

The question is, do these players deserve this money? Sure, they face the pressure of playing in front of 50,000 people each week, who pay a lot of money to support their team and, yes, expect them to score a penalty kick, 12 yards from the goal, to avoid suffering hurls of abuse from the stands. But some of these footballers don’t even mind if they’re not playing, as long as they’re raking in the cash. Let’s take the example of Carlos Tevez, during Manchester City’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich in September, he refused to be brought on as a substitute for reasons unknown. It’s za bit too cold for me boss, he reportedly muttered to manager Roberto Mancini from the bench. Meanwhile, 665 miles away in South Yorkshire, Doncaster Rovers striker and captain, Billy Sharp had to suffer the tragic death of his 5 month old son Luey in the same week as their Championship game against Middlesbrough. Heroically, Sharp chose to play the game just 72 hours after Luey passed away and scored a goal in his honour. That’s for you, son, read the words printed on his t-shirt underneath his jersey which he wrapped behind his neck. Maybe that’s the kind of dedication that deserves £198,000-a-week, eh, Carlos?

Yet an interesting fact is that footballers actually earn far less than some other sportsmen. It might surprise you to learn that compared to the richest leagues in other popular sports around the globe -basketball, baseball, cricket, American football and ice hockey England’s finest come some way down the pecking order. In a recent 2010 survey of the richest sports teams in the world, it was revealed that the Dallas Mavericks are the best paid NBA team, with an average pay of £68,343 per week (3.5 million a year), just ahead of the LA Lakers with 3.4 million. The Lakers’ star player, Kobe Bryant, earned almost 13 million for his playing activities alone in the 2008-09 season, unlucky Wayne, maybe you should start practicing your slam dunks! The highest-placed IPL side, are the Royal Challengers Bangalore, whose best-paid player is England’s Kevin Pietersen. His contract, the most lucrative in the IPL, earns him about 1 million for a maximum of six weeks’ service. The lowest paying of the eight IPL teams in 2009 were Rajasthan Royals, captained by Australia’s Shane Warne, with average pay of 28,029 per week, putting them at No 74. Only seven English football teams were higher placed: Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle (49), Aston Villa (62) and West Ham (66).

So, footballers are not the highest earning sportsmen and there are more reasons as to why, some may argue, footballers may not deserve to have their wages capped. Footballers have a very short working life, from about 18 to 35 if they’re lucky and avoid any major injuries, and need to maximise their earnings for future years. Also, top players, like Cristiano Ronaldo for example, can be considered as much entertainers as Hollywood actors and actresses who can earn millions for just a few months of filming.
These disadvantages of wage capping pail into insignificance when you consider that wage caps would prevent one or two sides buying up all the best talent, as Rangers and Celtic do in Scotland. Wage capping would also stop clubs from taking big risks by gambling future success against increased losses. Fundamentally, though, it is absurd and immoral that a man kicking a ball, portrayed as having the best job in the world, can earn as much in a week as a doctor dedicated to saving lives can earn in a year.