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Would you also agree that the prizemoney thrown at Group 1 races both here and abroad, and the Croesus-like wealth generated by the breeding industry is also "grossly obscene"?
It is a diffucult question to answer as it is not a like for like comparison, nor is it, as Pompete tries to make it, some sort of "class" (whatever that is ) issue.
I do not begrudge sportsmen making a good living from exploiting their skills and natural talents.
Where I do have a problem is with the amounts some are being paid – these players earning £100,000 a week plus could still easily set themselved up for life earning a quarter of that amount – £25,000 a
week
– which bear in mind is what the average UK worker earns in a
year
. So I make absolutely no apology for my use of the expression "grossly obscene" in those cases.
£25k a week equates to £1.3m a year. (I would also add, in my view, nobody – be they a footballer or a banker deserves or needs to earn any more than that and would also call some of the oft quoted payments to City Bankers as being "grossly obscene" as well)
Nobody has yet responded to the point I have made elsewhere, namely where is the "fairness" with some footballers earning in excess of £5m a year whilst a nurse earns £31k a year on average, a paramedic £29k or a teacher £31k.
In terms of prize money in racing – I would suggest at the highest level it is too high – I would prefer to see a more balanced distribution of prize money. However I think the high prize money at the top level and the eye wateringly high sums of money in the breeding area, reflect the financial risks involved in the high end of racing.
Nobody has yet responded to the point I have made elsewhere, namely where is the "fairness" with some footballers earning in excess of £5m a year whilst a nurse earns £31k a year on average, a paramedic £29k or a teacher £31k.
.It’s not fair and it’s not right.
The world would be a drab place if we were denied the entertainment provided by others but we wouldn’t be materially or physically affected by its loss.
Without the service industries, such as the nurses and teachers you mention, we would be down the Swanee and up sh*it creek, but due perhaps to the work being regarded as a ‘calling’ there’s no requirement for fair recompense as there will always be a sufficient number of those commendable souls who place public duty beyond personal gain. Wholly wrong and it’s an abuse of goodwill.
These are the people who have the right to take themselves seriously and likewise should be taken seriously by the public.
Not sportsfolk gifted riches beyond the dreams of avarice by a crazy world, and in particular not petulant sportsfolk seemingly unhappy with their lot cf. my anti-Gosden tirade elsewhere.
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