It is controversial whether the salaries paid to professional sportspeople are too high. While some argue that sports are not that important and sportspeople should not be paid a lot, others contend that higher salaries can promote sports development.
Proponents of athletes receiving excessive salaries suggest that sports are not as crucial as other industries such as healthcare, education or business. Sports mainly serve as entertainment for most of the citizens only and do not bring any direct benefits to others. Also, sportspeople not only receive wages as their income, but also obtain sponsorships or prizes from various competitions. If the salaries are too high, they may not be motivated to continue to improve and win in matches for addtional income. The lack of competitiveness can in turn limit their professional growth.
On the other hand, some people advocate that the salaries are fair and can promote sports development. Sportspeople are able to devote themselves to sports wholeheartedly without struggle to earn a living. Low wages are particularly not attractive for beginners or intermediates as they may neither win any prize nor gain enough fame for any sponsorship. Hong Kong ex-para athlete So Wa Wai also shared that he once had to give up running due to the leak of financial support from relevant authority and the necessity to work before he finally managed to win in the Paralympic Games. If the salaries are appealing, more novices would participate in sports and eventually make physical exercise become more accessible, which can thereby promote public health in the long run.
In my opinion, sports salaries are fair as being a athlete require extraordinarily high physical and mental condition, which is no easy task. However, the authority should review the salaries from time to time and set up objective standard to determine them so as to ensure the quality of life of athletes and also encourage them to improve.