Pedro Bravo, president of the Spanish Association of Football Agents, has pointed out on more than one occasion the following statement: “Book in hand and ball in foot, and if one of them has to fall down, let it be the ball”. He cannot be more right.
It is really worrying how individuals with their lives more than solved and with a relatively short professional career are capable of squandering great fortunes for an unwise wealth management. I am not referring to the standard of living they achieve during their journey and which they seek to maintain once it is over, but to the emptiness they then reach and only fill through waste.
In whose head a footballer is unable to stand on his own two feet and make his/her own decisions neither during nor after his/her journey on the pitch. This reflection brings me to the following one: they have become the puppets of their agents, who not only give them undue advice but also move them around according to their interests.
Therefore, the only cure I see is to promote the education of talented young people in academies, giving equal or greater importance to academic results than to training. It is essential that they meet certain formation standards, even if they choose to opt for sport at the time. Life takes many turns and having a plan B is always appreciated.
Like it or not, footballers have become heroes to children in countless homes around the world, so it would be extraordinary if they showed a little common sense.
I am sorry if I generalize and I am completely sure that there are a lot of professionals who manage their heritage in an enviable way and managed to have an appropriate education during their career in sport or afterwards, but wrong practices always make more headlines than exemplary ones.
Foot Renegades 