EDITORIAL
SUNDAY OLISEH
What is it with sportsmen and crime?
World soccer got a “tsunami-like” shocker as the
legendary Uli Hoeness, Bayern Munich’s president,
was sentenced to a three-and-a-half year jail term for
a tax fraud crime worth over €28.5 million.
With this precedent now set, are more sportsmen in
line?
Lionel Messi,Guus Hiddink, Neymar Jr, Barcelona,
Boris Becker and Africa’s own Anthony Yeboah have
all had tax fraud charges brought up against them in
the past.
Today, once again, questions are being asked, such
as: are the sportsmen turning to crime insatiable or
just ignorant, misled and misunderstood?
Why would you want to “dodge” paying compulsory
taxes on earnings, like is demanded of every citizen,
with its consequential jail term, taking into account
that you earn much more than the average man on
the street who pays taxes?
Is this just a case of illiteracy, immorality, erroneous
acts based on short-sightedness or, as mentioned
above, criminality? If so,what breeds this?
For those who are unaware, Mr Hoeness is one of the
most influential world sports personalities in the past
30 years. He is kingmaker, policy influencer, self-
proclaimed moralist and an instrumental figure in
Bayern Munich’s worldwide status and lucrative
brand today.
He is an ex-Bayern Munich player and manager who,
thanks to his co-owned sausage-making company in
Nurnberg, has reportedly a worth of over €100
million.
How did all this still not discourage a monumental
error that could dent his legacy forever?
Lionel Messi and others were, recently, able to
negotiate their way out of possible jail sentences
with the Spanish government but many soccer
players are now crosschecking their bank accounts
and looking behind their shoulders and wondering
and hoping they will not be next in line for
prosecution.
Africans could understandably question the gravity
of tax evasion and frown at this as some form of
witch hunt but you have to realise that Europeans
take tax evasion so seriously that, at times, the
sentences could be heavier than those handed out to
murderers. Why? The notion is that when you dodge
paying taxes, you do not rob just one individual or
institution, you rob the whole nation.
So are sportsmen criminals? Of course not. This is
why.
Sportsmen delegate and trust too much
Educated in their art and sport profession, sportsmen
trust their advisers too much when it comes to
money management and tax declarations, since
accounting is not really their field. In most cases, as
with Lionel Messi, they are not well advised and their
names are in the headlines and not their advisers or
managers.
Sportsmen are not entitled to pension
Though in no way a condonation or ratification of tax
evasion, Sportsmen though they end up paying
astronomical sums in taxes during active days, they
are grouped in a special category like artists and
unlike their neighbours and therefore have to plan
their own pension plans while active. More money is
needed than the average man on the street for a
lifetime!
Sportsmen are human too
Let’s face it. At the end of the day, rarely do you meet
a man who loves paying taxes. In fact, anyone who
admits to this is quickly frowned upon and seen as a
nerd, fool or a liar.
Americans are well known to publicly detest and
denounce paying taxes and would pay as little as
possible if the law allows and in some cases even
when it doesn’t.
Though wrong, sportsmen also might consider tax
evasion when and where possible as most humans
naturally do.
In conclusion, I feel it is a monumental error to
dodge paying taxes as a high-earning sportsman
because eventually you will be caught anyway. If you
pay “huge taxes”, it is simply because you earn huge
money, so some form of contentment would go a
long way in helping you stay out of jail in the long
run.
The moral of the story is, sportsmen earn good
money anyway and should stay away from tax
evasion or crime. If a huge personality, like the
legendary Hoeness, could be investigated and
convicted, there is no way other superstars will get
away with it.
Be content and happy with what you have,
sports stars. Pay your dues.
Culled from supersport.mobi
Sportcracker 