The "extraordinary perks set out" in footballers' contracts have "remained secret, until now," according to the SUNDAY TIMES. Documents from the Football Leaks website "reveal for the first time how football stars are rewarded with big bonuses simply for doing their job." Strikers can receive £65,000 ($82,800) for scoring a goal; substitutes can get £10,000 ($12,700) for a late appearance; and one goalkeeper is paid £3,500 ($4,460) a game even if his team loses. Perhaps the "most eye-catching clause" found in any of the contracts is the £1M ($1.27M) bonus if a "player refrains from spitting and other violent or abusive conduct." This was the incentive offered to Mario Balotelli when he joined Liverpool in Aug. '14. His contract said, "If during each season of the term of this contract the player is not dismissed from the field of play on three or more occasions for violent conduct, spitting at an opponent or any other person, for using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures and/or for dissent by word or action ... then on the 30th June at the end of each season he shall receive a bonus payment of £1m." Players in the top flight are routinely paid £5,000 ($6,370) to £20,000 ($25,500) for winning football matches, yet Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is paid a £3,500 bonus "even if his team draws or loses." The perks, on top of salaries, "can be huge." Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo was paid £2.8M ($3.6M) a year when he signed for Man City in July '13. However, he was incentivized by a £500,000 ($636,800) bonus for winning the Champions League, £350,000 ($445,800) for taking the Premier League title and £150,000 ($191,000) for victory in the FA Cup final (SUNDAY TIMES, 12/4).
