Rational Ref: win bonuses pointless as incentives for professionals
Top players need no extra enticement as a standard pay package should be adequate when it comes to instilling a desire for victory
Win bonuses are an anathema. Soccer professionals on contracts are already paid to perform, and yet are also offered performance bonuses as incentives. This motivational practice is morally corrupt and casts doubt about the commitment of players and coaches.
In principle, there is little difference between incentivising someone to perform well and to perform poorly. Offering financial rewards can lead individuals down the slippery slope of bribery and match fixing. As soon as incentives are used, soccer professionals will forever be expecting bonuses for their achievements rather than appreciating the experience of competing.
A recent survey of 34 leagues around the world found that professional players in the English Premier League earn, on average, annual salaries of £2.3 million (HK$28.8 million), with the German Bundesliga next best on £1.5 million (HK$18.8 million) a year.
There is an obvious difference between motivating players to win and motivating players to win at all costs
Top-flight players in Italy, Spain, France and Russia earn around £1 million (HK$12.5 million) per year on average. In the Chinese Super League, players earn annual salaries of £210,000 (HK$2.6 million), the highest in Asia. Hong Kong was not included in the survey, but for reference Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai is reported to earn HK$600,000 per year.
When win bonuses are offered on top of paid salaries, for example to encourage winning the domestic league, Champions League and even the World Cup, the added motivation appears excessive and overindulgent. Last season, Real Madrid gave their players a win bonus of €750,000 (HK$7.3 million) each for bringing home the "decima" or 10th Champions League title, and Germany players were given £240,000 each for becoming World champions.
Spain players were offered a win bonus of €720,000 and England £350,000 - far more than Germany - and both failed.
Professional players hardly need to be incentivised with more cash to win. Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly gave his Champions League win bonus to his team of physiotherapists. Mesut Ozil donated his World Cup bonus to provide operations for 23 seriously ill Brazilian children.
So why incentivise? Last week, the Hong Kong national team were promised HK$150,000 for a win against North Korea (they lost 2-1) and another HK$150,000 should they qualify for the EAFF East Asian Cup finals next year (they failed).
In the Hong Kong Premier League, Eastern offer HK$1 million in bonuses for capturing any one of the three cups, while the incentive for winning the league is much more.
"Money always matters in professional soccer and we are happy to offer the players big cash rewards provided they can meet the challenges," said Eastern director Peter Leung Shou-chi. "Our target is to sweep all the silverware and we hope the players can do the job as we are talking a lot of money."
In Hong Kong's lower divisions, where amateurs do not receive salaries, players and coaches earn "bonuses" by winning matches. This is one reason why match officials in the lower divisions get so much abuse, no matter how many "respect" campaigns are promoted. There is an obvious difference between motivating players to win and motivating players to win at all costs.
If employers did not offer a standard salary contract, players and coaches would instantly understand that their financial security would be on the line and that they have to perform.
Would players, coaches and even soccer administrators be so willing to earn as they perform? Probably not.
Sven-Goran Eriksson is the latest embodiment of this practice, claiming an £8 million (HK$100 million) two-year contract to coach CSL side Shanghai East Asia. He has been given targets, not incentives. He has proven to be a capable coach in China, pushing Guangzhou R&F to third place last season.
In Hong Kong, even the HKFA has been set targets, with one transparent indicator being the national team's world ranking. Although the team failed in the EAFF Cup qualifiers in Taipei, a better performance indicator is the four points they won in the tournament.
