Highest Paid Sportsmen In The World: Two Africans In The Top 100

Africa is represented by two names on the recent ranking of the 100 highest-paid athletes in the world made public by the American magazine Forbes.

Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah of Liverpool ranks 34th with $ 35.1 million in revenue last year (salaries, sponsors) from this purse. And Cameroonian basketball player Joël Embiid, a member of the Philadelphia Sixers, ranks 60th with $ 26.7 million in revenue.

According to Forbes magazine, the ranking is dominated by tennis legend Roger Federer. The Swiss have supplanted Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the top of the list of the highest-paid athletes in the world.

The first tennis player to appear at the top of the list since its creation in 1990, Federer has reportedly won $ 106.3 million in the past year.

According to Forbes, the winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles received the US $ 6.3 million from tennis money, with the rest coming from contracts and image rights.

Ronaldo and Messi, who have swapped places for number 1 in three of the past four years, are now in 2nd and 3rd place respectively, while Brazilian PSG footballer Neymar is in 4th.

Two women in the standings

Only two women are in the top 100, both from the world of tennis.

Naomi Osaka ranks 29th with the US $ 37.4 million while Serena Williams is ranked 33rd with the US $ 36 million.

The 100 highest-paid athletes earned the US $ 3.6 billion this year, according to Forbes, a figure down 9% from 2019.

This is largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, which decimated the sports calendar during 2020.