When legends die paupers

The death on Sunday of Bafana Bafana legend Phil Masinga and the outpouring of grief around his passing, especially in Namibia, has once again brought into firm focus the financially charmed lives that sportsmen and women lead.

Masinga, like many of our local players over the years, seemed to have it all in the 1990s, but he had to learn his money lessons the hard way.

In the late 1990s Masinga was a South African icon.

The Bafana Bafana striker was enjoying an international career that included two years with Leeds in the English Premier League, and in 1997 he scored that goal against Congo-Brazzaville that sent South Africa into the 1998 Fifa World Cup finals.

Off the field, however, he was facing the kinds of challenges that appear all too familiar for professional sportsmen and women.

According to a media report in 2017, before he moved to England, Masinga was earning R4 500 a month at Sundowns

“Then all of a sudden everything changed and I was earning £12 000 pounds. It was a big thing, and it was quite difficult to manage,” Masinga said during an interview.

Of course there were temptations and some very bad decisions, which led to Masinga landing in the doldrums after his playing days were over.

We are not here to judge, but it seems that all too often those that have brought us immense joy as sports figures end up on the rubbish heap, only to be celebrated once they die.

This week former Brave Warriors stalwart, Lolo Goraseb, who was a personal friend of Masinga, described him as a legend, but also began to lay bare the awful financial pain that sportsmen and women have to endure after the spotlight moves away from them. He urged football associations to plan for footballers after they are done with their playing careers, saying these players are only acknowledged after they die. This rings true for so many of our greats.