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ShareThere are a couple of questions that I have often heard raised, especially during these summer transfer months, that leaves me wondering. A lot of people I know say there are two things they have never understood about footballers. One: Why do they lie about their plans of moving to another club? Two: why don't they tell you the exact salary they are paid?
A friend recently gave the example of Cristiano Ronaldo. He said for the last one year, DNA, along with thousands of other publications around the world, carried stories of denials after denial from Ronaldo, saying he had no intentions of moving to Real Madrid. And here we are at the summer transfer window with Ronaldo wearing the Real Madrid jersey.
The friend went on to add that anybody who had been following Ronaldo's career and his quotes for the last couple of years could tell the man was just dying to get to Madrid. So, why all the pretence and lying?
I justified it saying maybe he didn't want to upset the fans, his current employers, in case the transfer didn't happen. "But why deny it when you know you are going to sign on the dotted line in a few days time?" my friend added.
Not just Ronaldo, a lot of footballers do that. Take Thierry Henry for instance. He pledged his allegiance to Arsenal for ever, and in a few days time he was kissing the Barcelona logo on the No. 14 jersey he was presented.
Got me thinking why these million-making geniuses would resort to blatant lying, knowing that eventually their lie would be caught. I guess because despite their demi-God status, they are just like all of us.
Consider this: If we were changing jobs, would we tell the world before we had the offer letter in our hand? We tell our bosses how wonderful they are and how much we love working for the organisation, all the while hoping that the interview we gave last week at the rival company was a success.
So while football may be religion, recreation, a pastime for many of us, it's work for Ronaldo and Henry. And they go about it like the rest of us. The second question, concerning the salary, I guess follows the same rule. How many of us like to discuss our salaries with strangers. Most of us have been taught that it is impolite to ask a person his/her salary. But then, why do we make footballers/sportspersons an exception to this rule?
I've done it too. Gathering information as a journalist means sometimes you have to leave your etiquette manual at home. When Baichung Bhutia joined Mohan Bagan in 2006, I had called up a top club official to confirm the news. My last question to the person was, "So, sir, how much are you paying Bhaichung?"
He said to me, "How can you ask this? We don't talk about salaries. Would you tell me how much your salary is?" I still laugh shamefacedly at what I said to him after that. "Of course, sir. I will. But only if you tell me how much you are paying Baichung."
What can I say... All's fair in love, war and football.
