Between the ball and Selic: companies help soccer players not to lose everything

The story is known in Brazil: a low-income boy has the dream of becoming a football player, trying to follow in the footsteps of his idols, who can be Neymar, Ronaldo, Romário, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Kaká or any other ace who made history in Brazilian Team.

Since he was a child, he learns everything he needs to reach the goal, such as giving a hat, dribbling at speed, hitting a perfect penalty and captivating the crowd in the stadium. Anything to do well in a field. Outside of it, however, the lines can become more blurry. Especially when it comes to financial life.

Because of the disconnect between these two realities, companies have been offering programs to help players build a perspective for the future after their career is over and maintain the assets they have earned.

Delta Flow Investimentos, an office accredited by BTG Pactual, and Top Soccer are two examples of companies that were born with this objective in mind.

”The player’s life is very short, professionally speaking, they start on the rise and earn a lot of money in a short time. So, if you don’t have a financial plan, it can ruin everything”, says Bruno Venditti, founding partner of Delta Flow Investimentos.

Delta Flow’s plan came about after Venditti realized the lack of knowledge about investments of players and people in the football field.

“Generally, coaches and managers already have a greater knowledge of what Selic is, but players often don’t. Therefore, we need to understand that they are professionals from a very specific niche and that they require a very specific conversation”, he says.

Top Soccer also started after realizing this lack of market, 13 years ago. Founding partner Marcelo Claudino explains that the change in mentality is essential for the athlete to get out of financial inertia and not slowly watch his assets collapse.

“The player needs to understand how to invest in an action, but for himself. Having financial knowledge to know where to invest without money, without needing help in the future”, says Claudino.

The manager points out that players of all types can be educated, from kids who are starting their careers to those who are at the height of fame and money and ex-athletes.

Focus on football today, but tomorrow…

On average, players over 32 are already considered “too old for the profession” and it is not uncommon for them to retire after reaching this mark. Memorable examples are Adriano Imperador, retired at 36 years old, and Ronaldo Fenômeno, at 34 years old.

Of course, the situation has changed a little in recent years. Players like Gianluigi Buffon (43 years old), Zlatan Ibrahimović (40 years old), Cristiano Ronaldo (36 years old) and Lionel Messi (34 years old), for example, still play at a high level. However, they are still exceptions.

Even rarer are athletes who waited to be over 40 before leaving the pitch. Among the most emblematic cases in Brazil are the Flemish fan Léo Moura, the São Paulo native Rogério Ceni and even the hero of the 1994 World Cup, Romário – all retired at 42 years of age.

The biggest difficulty for these athletes is knowing how to keep their assets protected and continue the income they managed to achieve during their few years of work. At the height of one’s career, with the spotlight on and a routine of training and games completely different from retired life, it’s not always easy to be aware of this.

There is no shortage of examples in the world of players who lost everything or at least part of their fortune after they stopped playing due to overspending.

One of the notorious cases is that of the Brazilian soccer star Garrincha, who found himself in a very different financial situation from the one he had when he left the fields.

Chilean Iván Zamorano is another example. He made risky investments and, with no return, lost what he had. It is also possible to mention the Argentine idol Diego Maradona, considered one of the greatest players in history, who died last year. He who declared bankruptcy and went on to cash in on his post-retirement image.

What brings them to the overdraft

Cases are recurrent among players who lose what they collected in their active years. According to Venditti, the most common factors that lead to this are the provision of help to family and friends, entry into traps and businesses that do not pay back, as well as into financial pyramids, in addition to excessive spending on superfluous goods, which they did not have access to. before career consolidation.

“The two main causes of money loss are lack of discipline and bad allocations from overspending. It is a set of things that happen due to lack of financial education. Taking blows at the beginning is a classic”, says the manager.

“Discipline is complicated. You need to hold the momentum, especially from young players, who earn significant amounts at a young age — and then you have the situation of being able to do things that people of the same age cannot do, and that moves a lot”, he says.

Venditti analyzes that, in general, players are conservative investors, and choose to allocate their earnings to fixed income, savings, among others. “They really like to win, but they don’t like to take risks”, he explains.

change of mindset

Top Soccer’s founding partner, Marcelo Claudino, believes that there has been a change in the financial mentality of today’s athletes compared to past athletes. For him, the internet made all the difference in this process.

“The player of today reads in the media the failed examples of the past, of athletes who lost everything for investing wrongly or for not being able to continue their assets after retiring”, he says.

In addition, the internet makes it possible to open bank accounts faster and provides knowledge about personal finance at all times, all that is needed is a search on the subject. With one click, you can access expert tips, explanations of financial jargon, and much more.