Did Coaches Salaries Sabotage Africa At The World Cup?

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VENTURES AFRICA – The World Cup in Brazil has been a tournament of mixed emotions for Africa as a continent as despite the resilient brilliance of Algeria, the spectacular failures of Cameroon and Ivory Coast were all too clear. Post event analysis of the failures and successes of the World Cup will be launched in several countries with the government of Ghana already launching full blown investigations as well as setting up reforms policy as regards the national team- the first one being the decision to sign contracts with national team players during international tournaments. Asides all of these attempted measures of ensuring that African football can begin to deliver more prominently on the big stages, the question of coaching is bound to be an issue.

Many regard coaching as one of the key factors of success on the pitch though the success of many European nations- Spain and Germany- to be precise has shown that far-reaching government policy on grassroots development and investment in required infrastructure can help fasten the process of development and attainment of success in football.

Regardless, the quality of coaching is a question that needs to be answered hence Ventures Africa attempts to draw a correlation between the remuneration of coaches of African national teams at the World Cup and the performances of their country.

It is interesting to note that of the top 10 highest paid coaches at the World Cup, none were African. The highest paid man, Fabio Capello with an annual salary of $11.2 million could not lead Russia beyond the group stage as they were eventually knocked out by Algeria in the last group game. Capello is perhaps the first proof that getting a manager on a fat salary is not a guarantee of success. In fact, five of the top ten best paid bosses at the World Cup exited the tournament in the group stage. England’s Roy Hodgson who earns $5.9 million yearly is one of the big casualties alongside Italy’s Cesare Prandelli ($4.3 million) and Capello make up the top three highest paid coaches at the World Cup. The other two managers in the top ten eliminated in the group stage were Alberto Zaccheroni of Japan ($2.7 million) and more surprisingly, Vicente del Bosque of Spain ($3.4 million).

Of the managers in the top ten, Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari ($3.9 million), Netherlands’ Louis Van Gaal ($2.7 million) and Germany’s Joachim Low ($3.6 million) have made it through to the last four where they are joined by Alejandro Sabella of Argentina- the 22nd best paid coach with an annual salary of $818,240.

Analysis of the top ten best paid bosses perhaps proves that there is more to success than coaches on a fat salary but let’s focus a bit more on Africa.

Africa’s best paid manager at the mundial, Sabri Lamouchi of Ivory Coast earns $1.03 million annually and was placed 18th on the full list of managers at the World Cup. Just below him, at 19th, was Algeria’s Vahid Halilhodžić who earns $1,007,070. Only these two made it to the top 20 in the full list but their placing, in 18th and 19th, means that no African was listed in the top 50 percent of the highest paid bosses at the World Cup. The remaining three African bosses ranked among the least paid at the World Cup with Volke Finke of Cameroon ($394,440), Stephen Keshi, Nigeria ($392,420) and James Kwesi Appiah of Ghana ($251,770) all ranked 27th, 28th and 31st respectively on the list of 32.

In correlation with success, Africa’s best and worst paid coaches- Sabri Lamouchi and Kwesi Appiah- were both eliminated in the group stage alongside Africa’s third highest earner, Volke Finke. Algeria’s Vahid Halilhodžić, Africa’s second best paid coach and Stephen Keshi, Africa’s second worst paid coach both made it through to the Round of 16. Thus it can be said, there is no clear connection between the salaries of African bosses and the success of the country.

In relation with the average salary earner in their respective countries, it is very clear that Africa’s coaches at the World Cup were very well paid despite being in the bottom 50% of the list of 32. Sabri Lamouchi’s salary of over a million dollars is roughly 795 times more than the average person in Ivory Coast will earn in a year. While Vahid Halilhodžić’s pay, only $30,000 less than Lamouchi’s represents 179 times more than the earning power of the average Algerian.

Though the other three bosses all earn at least $700,000 less than Lamouchi and Halilhodžić, their salaries are still gargantuan in comparison with average wages in those countries. Volke Finke pulls an annual salary which is 322 times more than the average person in Cameroon, Stephen Keshi’s pay is about 240 times more than the average Nigerian and Africa’s worst paid coach, also the second worst paid at the World Cup, Kwesi Appiah, earns 150 times more than the average person in Ghana.

In total, African bosses earned a meager 4.6 percent of the total annual salary of all coaches at the World Cup and while some might be quick to spring that as an excuse for poor showings, it is worth noting that Mexico, who were only two minutes away from a quarter-final finish, are managed by the worst paid coach at the World Cup. Perhaps the best way to put Miguel Herrera’s annual pay of $209,810, only 21 times more than the average person in Mexico, in context is to compare it with Fabio Capello’s – the best paid coach at the World Cup- who earns more in a week than Herrera earns in a year.