The following makes a refreshing change to the norm where players like Rio Ferdinand hold out on signing a contract because they want even more than €100,000 per week!
Tommasi Gets Papal Blessing
Damiano Tommasi has become a hero on and off the pitch for asking his team to pay him minimum wage only!
While some of his team-mates at Roma earn millions, Tommasi has requested a salary of just €1,500 (£1,013) a month.
After being out of the game for months with a knee injury, the 31-year-old player said he simply wanted to return to playing football and economic considerations were low on his list of priorities. A modest salary was enough for his needs, he said, and he was still earning more than many ordinary Italians.
His gesture has led to him being lionised in football-mad Italy, with even the Vatican's official mouthpiece L'Osservatore Romano congratulating him. The player said he had signed on at the minimum salary for the rest of the season 'because I love football'.
Contract Bridge
Tommasi’s contract recently expired and with the club going through financial difficulties they could not afford to offer another without being sure he had completely recovered.
In an amazing show of loyalty to the Giallorossi, the midfielder decided to make things easier by requesting an unimaginably low salary for a top-flight footballer of €1,500.
"I did it because I love Roma and football," Tommasi confirmed. The player from Negrar, a small village in the Verona region, was already considered extraordinary by football's standards because of his extensive charity work, but this was without precedent.
Taken from www.precision-goalkeeping.com
See also http://www.channel4.com/sport/footba...spotlight.html
