Benoit Assou-Ekotto: ‘I Play for the Money’

Tottenham Hotspur left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto admits that football is just a job, making money his main motivator. Surely his heads in the right place, right?

According to The Sunday Mirror, the Cameroon international said:

“When your surgeon tells you that you might not play again I think it puts things into perspective.

“You realise there are more important things in life than kicking a ball around.

“I have never bought into the ­hypocrisy of football but perhaps I’m more strident in my views now. I’m lucky and appreciate what I have, but football is just a job, a means to an end.

“I’d rather be honest and say what I think,” he said.”I play football to earn a living and make my life easier,” added Assou-Ekotto.

“Yes, I play for the money but then doesn’t everybody who gets up in the  morning and goes to work? They do it to provide for their family.”

The Spurs defender also claims that he is rather annoyed when players claim to play for their club and then decide to abandon their team for an increase in weekly-wages. Again, can you blame him? Surely not.

“It infuriates me when footballers go on about playing for the shirt. I think they should be held accountable for it when they kiss the badge and six months later clear off for a better pay day.

“After all, they turn up at a press conference and go on about history and the love of the club.

“But what is the first thing they ask about before signing? How much! I have a conscience so I’m not prepared to say something I don’t believe.”

It’s rather easy to agree with Assou-Ekotto’s statements because he, unlike the majority, is admitting the ugly truth. That’s not to say that a large number of footballers do in fact play for the love of the game and their clubs, because some players certainly do.

But at the end of the day, football is a business. That being said, the players fully deserve the money that they get paid and you can not blame them for leaving their beloved clubs for greener pastures.

If I was put in a situation where I had to choose between my club and a substantial pay raise, I would have to think long and hard before coming to my senses and taking the money.

Maybe it’s greed, maybe it’s just human intuition. Perhaps it is a little of both, but almost everyone on this planet can be lured away or hynotized by a piece of paper called “money”.

The cliché ‘money can’t buy happiness’ likely came from a poor source, literally. To some extent, money can buy anything you could possibly imagine.

Lastly, many thanks to Benoit Assou-Ekotto for admitting what we all already knew.