CELEBRITY
LIONEL MESSI BECOMES FOOTBALL’S SECOND BILLIONAIRE
News around football’s celebrated player, Lionel Messi has taken a positive slant this week as he is set to become the sports’ second billionaire after Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to Daily Mail, quoting from statistics by the Forbes Magazine, Messi has not only become a billionaire, he has also fended off competition from Ronaldo to top Forbes rich list
After Ronaldo previously achieved the feat, Messi has now earned $1billion in pre-tax earnings during his career, as reported by Forbes.
Messi is the highest earning player in 2020 according to Forbes, with the Argentina international set to earn $126million (£98million) – split between his salary of $92million (£72million) plus $34million (£26million) in endorsements.
Having recently agreed to stay at Barcelona for another season after much uncertainty, Messi will hope that he can help the Catalan club to bounce back after they failed to win a trophy last campaign.
In addition to his boot deal with Adidas, Messi also has endorsement deals with Pepsi, Budweiser and AI-vision company OrCam Technologies.
Ronaldo is in second place on Forbes’ list, with the Juventus attacker on course to earn $117million (£91million).
With 457 million followers across his social media accounts, Ronaldo is the most popular athlete in the world. He has deals with companies like Nike and Herbalife.
In third is Paris Saint-Germain winger Neymar, who is due to earn $96million (£75million).
The Brazil international recently switched to Puma after his deal with Nike came to an end.
Neymar’s PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe has risen significantly on the list to fourth place. He is set to earn $42million (£33million).
In addition to his exploits on the pitch, Mbappe was also named as the cover star for FIFA 21.
It is anticipated that Mbappe will continue to rise up the list and he could well overtake Neymar next year.
Completing the top five is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, whose earnings total $37million (£29million).
FORBES’ HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS IN 2020
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – $126million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) – $117million
3. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – $96million
4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) – $42million
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – $37million
6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) – $34million
7. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona) – $33million
8. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) – $29million
9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – $28million
10. David de Gea (Manchester United) – $27million
Salah, the highest Premier League player on the list, has deals with Adidas and Vodafone Egypt.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is sixth with earnings of $34million (£26million).
In seventh is Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann, who has earned $33million (£26million). He launched an Esports team this year, with his brand growing further.
Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale is in eighth with $29million (£23million) despite his lack of game time.
Robert Lewandowski, who helped Bayern Munich to win the treble, is in ninth place with earnings of $24million (£19million).
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, meanwhile, is in tenth having earned $27million (£21million).
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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