There are a number of leading athletes and sports star earning substantial amounts of money compared to other professionals. How far do you agree or disagree?

There are a number of leading athletes and sports star earning substantial amounts of money compared to other professionals. While most fans would never find fault with their favourite footballers, other people are questioning the legitimacy of the inflated salaries. I personally, do not agree with the criticisms of their earnings. In this essay I will discuss the issues using examples from boxing and football to support my arguments. Firstly, it is true that some sports stars are paid more than a reasonable amount of money. This is largely because many sports associations have substantial funds from the revenue generated from ticket sales, merchandise and sponsorship to pay these amounts. For instance, a recent FIFA report revealed that some footballers receive over a million pounds each month. As a result, there is growing criticism over sports star salaries. However, there are valid arguments in favour of these high salaries too. Sports professionals risk their health in their line of work. This is largely because they must push their bodies to superhuman levels and many contact sports have risks of injuries. For example, a study from the world boxing federation found that over 90% of boxers suffer from injuries that impact their lives expectancy. The worst of these included brain injuries, spinal cord trauma and even death. Consequently, I firmly believe this makes them worthy of a high remuneration. To conclude, I sincerely feel sports stars deserve the pay they receive. It is predicted that as long as there is demand for sports entertainment, there will continue to be growth in the salaries for sports personalities.