Slaves" imported to entertain the crowd.
We are becoming more and more like the Roman Empire during it's
decline. To side track it's citizens from the empire's decline and
lost of revenue. The Roman ruling class imported slaves to fight
& kill each others. i.e. mass entertainment.
We have S-League, Casino, bar-top dancing....what's next.
These football players are like "slaves" serving the greed of slave
traders hoping to make a profit selling his players to richer
clubs.
Singapore is in decline. Just like the tail end of Roman
Empire.
S-League football stars who take home less than maids
Wednesday • June 7, 2006
Jose Raymond
[email protected]
SO, you envy the glamorous lives of professional footballers
playing in a national league, signing autographs and driving their
fast cars? A visit to a semi-detached house in Seletar Hills may
serve as a reality check.
Five or six men share a room, with 22 crammed into the house.
They barely go anywhere other than the stadium because they find
travel too expensive.
No movies. No sightseeing. Not even enough money to buy
clothes.
Reason: Some footballers from S-League club Sporting Afrique told
this newspaper that, for the past six months, they have been paid
just $100 a month by way of cash. That is about a third of what the
average maid in Singapore earns and even less than the pocket money
that many schoolchildren take from their parents.
The club, which made its S-League debut this year, consists of
young players from the African continent, including Nigeria, Kenya
and Cameroon.
On paper, the players are supposed to be paid $1,600 a month but
the club deducts $700 a month for providing them food and $800 for
their accommodation.
This leaves the players with just $100 to tide them over an entire
month. Since rentals in the area are in the range of $3,000 a
month, the players say they are being grossly overcharged if 22 of
them have to pay $800 each.
As for food, supplies of chicken and rice are given to them and one
of the footballers cooks. On match days, they are given apples and
bananas to supplement their diet.
Yesterday, Sporting Afrique president Collin Chee explained that
when the players signed their contracts, they knew that $1,500
would be deducted from their salaries every month to cover the cost
of food, accommodation and transport from their Seletar Hills home
to the Yishun stadium.
"We are not a rich club and this is our first season in the
S-League. We need time to get a firm footing," said Mr Chee.
"The players knew what they were signing. We are not shortchanging
any of them. And I do not understand why they are bringing this up
after six months."
The players explained that, over time, they realised that they
simply could not carry on with such little money. "There is no way
anyone can live in Singapore on $100 a month," said one
player.
Some of them have been borrowing money from the maids in the area.
Occasionally, the maids also give them food to eat.
There is no question of buying new shirts or fancy clothes. Two of
the players said they were playing with broken football boots
because they could not afford new ones.
Club chairman Chee pointed out that on three occasions over the
past three months, the players had been paid an extra $50 as
match-winning bonus.
He also said that they would be entitled to 35 per cent of the
prize money if they finished in the top three positions in the
league. Considering that the third place fetches $40,000, this
would work out to $14,000 to be shared among the team.
There appears to be little chance of that, however, as the club,
also known as the Flamingos, currently lies eighth.
"This was supposed to be a stepping stone for the players and if
they play well, they will be offered bigger contracts at other
clubs. This should be their ambition," said Mr Chee.
"Would they even have a chance to play football in any other
country if they were not given this opportunity in
Singapore?"
For the players, however, day-to-day concerns are overshadowing
ambitions about the future. Some of them approached Football
Association of Singapore director of competitions Quah Kim Song
with their troubles. Quah confirmed this, but refused to comment
further.
One player decided to share his plight with another S-League
player. After that, he had no money to return to Seletar Hills from
Choa Chu Kang stadium and had to borrow his friend's ez-link
card.
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