Complete List of ESPN Top Salaries by Country in 2011
Here is a list of the highest paid athletes from each country of the world in 2011, according to ESPN The Magazine. This is the complete list of 182 countries that were analyzed, in alphabetical order.
See also the list sorted by salary and per capita GDP to see how each country compares to each other. The USA and Philippines produced the highest paid athletes, with the lowest paid being sprinter Michael Junior Jackson from Niue.
| Country | Best-Paid Athlete | Annual Salary | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | Lorik Cana | 2,500,000 | soccer |
| Algeria | Nadir Belhadj | 2,779,000 | soccer |
| American Samoa | Domata Peko | 2,950,000 | American football |
| Andorra | Ildefons Lima | 531,822 | soccer |
| Angola | Manucho | 865,579 | soccer |
| Argentina | Carlos Tevez | 19,000,000 | soccer |
| Armenia | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 360,000 | soccer |
| Australia | Andrew Bogut | 11,050,000 | basketball |
| Austria | Thomas Vanek | 6,400,000 | hockey |
| Azerbaijan | Aleksandr Samedov | 1,287,000 | soccer |
| Bahrain | Abdullah Omar Ismail | 202,086 | soccer |
| Bangladesh | Shakib Al Hasan | 425,000 | cricket |
| Belarus | Alexander Hleb | 3,300,000 | soccer |
| Belgium | Vincent Kompany | 5,340,000 | soccer |
| Benin | Stephane Sessegnon | 2,800,000 | soccer |
| Bermuda | Reggie Lambe | 480,000 | soccer |
| Bolivia | Marcelo Moreno | 883,449 | soccer |
| Bosnia | Edin Dzeko | 8,470,000 | soccer |
| Botswana | Mogogi Gabonamong | 354,000 | soccer |
| Brazil | Felipe Massa | 17,052,632 | auto racing |
| Brunei Darussalam | Craig Adams | 550,000 | hockey |
| Bulgaria | Dimitar Berbatov | 6,700,000 | soccer |
| Burkina Faso | Charles Kabore | 1,118,000 | soccer |
| Burundi | Saidi Ntibazonkiza | 315,000 | soccer |
| Cameroon | Samuel Eto'o | 8,000,000 | soccer |
| Canada | Jason Bay | 18,125,000 | baseball |
| Cape Verde | Cafu | 287,000 | soccer |
| Central African Republic | Eloge Enza Yanissi | 206,000 | soccer |
| Chad | Misdongarde Betoligar | 21,500 | soccer |
| Chile | Mark Gonzalez | 9,324,958 | soccer |
| China | Yao Ming | 17,700,000 | basketball |
| Colombia | Juan Pablo Montoya | 5,088,410 | auto racing |
| Comoros | Kassim Abdallah | 120,000 | soccer |
| Cook Islands | Stan Wright | 204,000 | rugby union |
| Costa Rica | Bryan Ruiz | 1,720,828 | soccer |
| Croatia | Luka Modric | 4,900,000 | soccer |
| Cuba | Yuniesky Betancourt | 4,300,000 | baseball |
| Curaþao | Jair Jurrjens | 3,250,000 | baseball |
| Cyprus | Constandinos Charalambides | 1,589,000 | soccer |
| Czechia | Petr Cech | 7,400,000 | soccer |
| Dem. Rep. of the Congo | Herita Ilunga | 2,730,000 | soccer |
| Denmark | Daniel Agger | 4,500,000 | soccer |
| Djibouti | Ismail Ahmed Kadar Hassan | 51,500 | soccer |
| Dominican Republic | Alfonso Soriano | 19,000,000 | baseball |
| Ecuador | Antonio Valencia | 6,361,983 | soccer |
| Egypt | Mohammed Zidan and Mohamed Abu Treika , | 2,580,000 | soccer |
| El Salvador | Arturo Alvarez | 201,922 | soccer |
| England | Lewis Hamilton | 18,473,684 | auto racing |
| Equatorial Guinea | Rodolfo Bodipo | 430,000 | soccer |
| Eritrea | Zersenay Tadese | 340,000 | track and field |
| Estonia | Ragnar Klavan | 2,006,000 | soccer |
| Ethiopia | Tilahun Regassa | 318,250 | track and field |
| Faroe Islands | Christian Holst | 1,630,000 | soccer |
| Fiji | Vijay Singh | 1,334,262 | golf |
| Finland | Kimi Raikkonen | 26,333,333 | auto racing |
| France | Franck Ribery | 14,100,000 | soccer |
| French Guiana | Florent Malouda | 3,441,823 | soccer |
| Gabon | Daniel Cousin | 645,000 | soccer |
| Gambia | Ousman Jallow | 314,000 | soccer |
| Georgia | Zaza Pachulia | 4,251,250 | basketball |
| Germany | Dirk Nowitzki | 17,278,618 | basketball |
| Ghana | Michael Essien | 5,500,000 | soccer |
| Greece | Theodoros Papaloukas | 4,400,000 | basketball |
| Greenland | Jesper Gronkjaer | 923,440 | soccer |
| Guadeloupe | Mickael Pietrus | 5,300,000 | basketball |
| Guatemala | Carlos Ruiz | 306,670 | soccer |
| Guinea | Ibrahima Yattara | 717,000 | soccer |
| Guinea-Bissau | Almami Moreira | 573,000 | soccer |
| Haiti | Samuel Dalembert | 12,200,000 | basketball |
| Honduras | David Suazo | 5,716,476 | soccer |
| Hungary | Zoltan Gera | 2,970,000 | soccer |
| Iceland | Eidur Gudjohnsen | 2,538,000 | soccer |
| India | Ms Dhoni | 1,800,000 | cricket |
| Indonesia | Bambang Pamungkas | 160,000 | soccer |
| Iran | Hamed Haddadi | 1,600,000 | basketball |
| Iraq | Nashat Akram | 900,000 | soccer |
| Ireland | John O'shea | 6,800,000 | soccer |
| Israel | Yossi Benayoun | 6,859,267 | soccer |
| Italy | Valentino Rossi | 20,800,000 | motorcycle racing |
| Ivory Coast | Yaya Toure | 18,200,000 | soccer |
| Jamaica | Ricardo Gardner | 2,613,074 | soccer |
| Japan | Ichiro Suzuki | 18,000,000 | baseball |
| Jordan | Odai Al-Saify | 145,000 | soccer |
| Kazakhstan | Nik Antropov | 3,750,000 | hockey |
| Kenya | McDonald Mariga | 1,300,000 | soccer |
| Kuwait | Bader Al-Mutwa | 400,000 | soccer |
| Kyrgyzstan | Mirlan Murzaev | 150,000 | soccer |
| Latvia | Andris Biedrins | 9,000,000 | basketball |
| Lebanon | Youssef Mohamad | 1,074,839 | soccer |
| Lesotho | Lehlohonolo Seema | 34,300 | soccer |
| Liberia | Sekou Oliseh | 573,000 | soccer |
| Libya | Tariq El Taib | 1,130,000 | soccer |
| Liechtenstein | Martin Stocklasa | 978,800 | soccer |
| Lithuania | Linas Kleiza | 4,995,000 | basketball |
| Luxembourg | Andy Schleck | 2,700,000 | road bicycle racing |
| Macedonia | Goran Pandev | 4,250,000 | soccer |
| Madagascar | Anicet Andrianantenaina | 86,000 | soccer |
| Malawi | Tamika Mkandawire | 571,000 | soccer |
| Malaysia | Lee Chong Wei | 106,000 | badminton |
| Mali | Frederic Kanoute | 8,600,000 | soccer |
| Malta | Michael Mifsud | 1,142,000 | soccer |
| Martinique | Ronny Turiaf | 4,000,000 | basketball |
| Mauritania | Pascal Gourville | 353,000 | soccer |
| Mauritius | Diallo Guidileye | 313,000 | soccer |
| Mexico | Jorge De La Rosa | 10,000,000 | baseball |
| Moldova | Alexandru Epureanu | 1,433,000 | soccer |
| Mongolia | Hakuho | 400,000 | sumo |
| Montenegro | Mirko Vucinic | 6,020,000 | soccer |
| Morocco | Marouane Chamakh | 4,247,000 | soccer |
| Mozambique | Mate Simao Junior | 516,000 | soccer |
| Namibia | Collin Benjamin | 1,000,000 | soccer |
| Nepal | Santosh Sahukhala | 8,430 | soccer |
| Netherlands | Nigel De Jong | 10,500,000 | soccer |
| New Caledonia | Frederic Piquionne | 2,972,339 | soccer |
| New Zealand | Russell Coutts | 10,000,000 | yachting |
| Nicaragua | Vicente Padilla | 2,000,000 | baseball |
| Niger | Alhassane Issoufou | 200,000 | soccer |
| Nigeria | John Mikel Obi | 5,800,000 | soccer |
| Niue | Michael Junior Jackson | 5,000 | track and field |
| North Korea | An Yong-Hak and Jong Tae-Se | 619,107 | soccer |
| Northern Ireland | Graeme McDowell | 5,176,586 | golf |
| Norway | John Carew | 4,500,000 | soccer |
| Oman | Ali Al Habsi | 3,000,000 | soccer |
| Pakistan | Shahid Afridi | 136,000 | cricket |
| Palestine | Fadi Lafi | 65,000 | soccer |
| Panama | Carlos Lee | 19,000,000 | baseball |
| Papua New Guinea | Nev Costigan | 216,667 | rugby league |
| Paraguay | Roque Santa Cruz | 7,668,947 | soccer |
| Peru | Claudio Pizarro | 5,448,894 | soccer |
| Philippines | Manny Pacquiao | 32,000,000 | boxing |
| Poland | Robert Kubica | 10,657,895 | auto racing |
| Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | 19,500,000 | soccer |
| Puerto Rico | Carlos Beltran | 19,325,436 | baseball |
| Qatar | Sebastian Soria Quintana | 391,000 | soccer |
| Republic of the Congo | Christopher Samba | 3,000,000 | soccer |
| Romania | Cristian Chivu | 5,013,000 | soccer |
| Russia | Andrei Kirilenko | 17,822,187 | basketball |
| Rwanda | Olivier Karekezi | 52,000 | soccer |
| Samoa | David Tua | 500,000 | boxing |
| San Marino | Aldo Simoncini | 172,000 | soccer |
| Saudi Arabia | Mohammed Noor | 1,200,000 | soccer |
| Scotland | Darren Fletcher | 5,000,000 | soccer |
| Senegal | DeSagana Diop | 6,478,600 | basketball |
| Serbia | Peja Stojakovic | 15,602,138 | basketball |
| Seychelles | Michael Mancienne | 2,100,000 | soccer |
| Sierra Leone | Madieu Williams | 2,974,000 | American football |
| Singapore | Mardan Mamat | 500,609 | golf |
| Slovakia | Marian Hossa | 7,900,000 | hockey |
| Slovenia | Anze Kopitar | 6,000,000 | hockey |
| Somalia | Abdisalam Ibrahim | 340,000 | soccer |
| South Africa | Ernie Els | 5,347,012 | golf |
| South Korea | Ji-Sung Park | 4,700,000 | soccer |
| Spain | Fernando Alonso | 22,736,842 | auto racing |
| Sri Lanka | Mahela Jayawardene | 1,500,000 | cricket |
| Sudan | Luol Deng | 11,355,850 | basketball |
| Suriname | Clarence Seedorf | 4,000,000 | soccer |
| Swaziland | Tony Tsabedze | 212,000 | soccer |
| Sweden | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 12,700,000 | soccer |
| Switzerland | Roger Federer | 7,698,289 | tennis |
| Syria | Sanharib Malki | 400,000 | soccer |
| Tahiti | Fabrice Santoro | 19,500 | tennis |
| Taiwan | Hong-Chih Kuo | 2,725,000 | baseball |
| Tajikistan | Farkhod Vasiev | 145,000 | soccer |
| Tanzania | Hasheem Thabeet | 4,793,280 | basketball |
| Thailand | Thongchai Jaidee | 1,400,000 | golf |
| Togo | Emmanuel Adebayor | 11,900,000 | soccer |
| Tonga | Chris Kemoeatu | 2,369,000 | American football |
| Trinidad And Tobago | Anthony Herrera | 1,425,000 | American football |
| Tunisia | Karim Haggui | 820,000 | soccer |
| Türkiye | Hedo Turkoglu | 9,800,000 | basketball |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Tim Duncan | 18,700,000 | basketball |
| UAE | Ismail Matar | 360,000 | soccer |
| Uganda | Mathias Kiwanuka | 1,776,000 | American football |
| Ukraine | Vitali Klitschko | 6-8M | boxing |
| Uruguay | Diego Forlan | 7,169,746 | soccer |
| USA | Alex Rodriguez | 32,000,000 | baseball |
| Uzbekistan | Maksim Shatskikh | 120,000 | soccer |
| Venezuela | Johan Santana | 21,644,707 | baseball |
| Vietnam | Lee Nguyen | 180000 | soccer |
| Wales | Ryan Giggs | 6,300,000 | soccer |
| Zambia | Chris Katongo | 315,300 | soccer |
| Zimbabwe | Benjani Mwaruwari | 3,405,584 | soccer |
Notes
- This list is only based on the highest paid athlete from each country based on the official base salary or earnings from the most recently completed season or calendar year, but does not include endorsements, appearance fees, sponsorship money and other sources of extra income.
- Only countries are listed from which an official salary data was available. No figures were available from Afghanistan, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Salaries not available for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Bonaire, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Dominica, East Timor, Grenada, Mauritus, Micronesia, Monaco, Monserrat, Myanmar, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grendadines, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos or Yemen.
Source
- This data was published in ESPN The Magazine (May 2, 2011).
Related Pages
- More ESPN lists
- This list sorted by salary and per capita GDP
- other sporting lists, including the Forbes list of the World's Best Paid Athletes
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Old Comments
- How come there was no salary Afghanistan players? (from mohammad yunus naser, Mar 2013)
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