After failing to agree on a contract with an Australian football side late last year, Usain Bolt has hinted that he may give up on trying to play football professionally. “I don’t want to say it wasn’t dealt with properly, but I think we went about it, not the way we should and you learn your lesson, you live and you learn,” Bolt said.
The 32-year-old sprinting legend was unable to agree a contract with Australian side Central Coast Mariners late last year after a trial. “It was a good experience. I really enjoyed just being in a team and it was must different from track and field and it was fun while it lasted.”
Bolt, who won Olympic sprint gold medals in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro, said his focus now was on his business endeavours.
“I’m just doing many different things … the sports life is over, so I’m now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I’m just dabbling in everything and trying to be a businessman now.”
In November 2018, Bolt had said he would continue to pursue his dream of playing professional football despite his failure to reach a deal with Central Coast. After a two-month trial Bolt this week rejected Central Coast’s offer of a $150,000 contract to play in the current A-League season.
He had been hoping for sponsors to come forward to swell his salary to a reported $3 million. Bolt scored two goals in his first start for the Central Coast Mariners in a trial match.
Anything is possible don’t think limits pic.twitter.com/bcLgxnBB8x
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) October 12, 2018
Bolt also tried unsuccessfully to play for teams in Germany, Norway and South Africa.
(with inputs from Reuters)
