The South African Football Players’ Union is calling for separate tax rules to be set up for those involved in sport.

SAFPU are tackling the problem as they look to find ways of making sure that players don’t retire with no money to their name, with sports people being hit with big tax bills despite their careers more often than not ending in their 30s or before. 

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A statement from SAFPU read:

SAFPU has undertaken an initiative to challenge the status quo regarding the taxation imposed on sports people, and footballers in particular. The system is not fair to sports people even though they contribute millions in tax while they play the game.

The system forces them to retire with nothing. While other citizens in the country get their returns in a form of a pension fund which is a tool that does not exist in football, which is unfair and abusive on our part. We want a Special Sport Tax to be introduced to give footballers a comfortable exit like everybody else in the society, which will assist them for life after football.

This taxation system was not designed to cater for everyone and as a result, footballers are exploited... The system forces our sporting heroes to live in abject poverty when their careers come to an end and SAFPU is calling for a special tax dispensation in sports.   

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