It has been reported that Sven-Goran Eriksson the former England manager and now newly appointed manager for Ivory Coast for the World Cup, will be paid up to £2 million in a country where over half the population earns less than £3 a day.
Sven-Goran Eriksson accepted the job of managing Ivory Coast during the World Cup, but anyone that knows Sven will also know that he comes with a heavy price tag and in this case the price is probably too much.
Sven will be paid a guaranteed £270,000 salary and could earn up to £1.7 million if Ivory Coast progress in the world cup. This in a country where over half of the population are on next to nothing wages and half are jobless. Is it justified?
The Sun says that Eriksson has been given an unlimited expense account, a team credit card and a luxury flat until the tournament begins.
The Ivorian Football Federation has much to answer for, surely a homegrown manager would have been cheaper and the money that they are spending on Eriksson could of been invested in training homegrown managers?
The fact is Ghana, Cameroon Ivory Coast and South Africa are all managed by Europeans and with this world cup being historical as it is held in South Africa, it is time that African football bodies begin to nurture managerial talents from within their own countries.
If an African team pulled off a miraculous world cup win or even performance, would the fact that they have white managers be downplayed in the media? This is why African national teams should have homegrown managers and the South African World Cup is the right time to raise this issue.
Yes, experience matters but how are inexperienced managers going to get that experience if African football bodies overlook them when it comes to the big tournaments?
The Ivorian Football Federation have got their priorities dreadfully wrong.
For further research:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/30032010/58/world-cup-2010-poor-ivorians-find-money-sven.html
