Usain lured by the money
USAIN Bolt had a choice between football and money, and when push came to shove the latter spoke louder.
Barely three months into an indefinite trial tipped to last a year or more, the world’s fastest man has dashed out of Gosford, rejecting an A- League contract offer in the absence of commercial sponsors to heavily augment his salary.
The decision came after Central Coast submitted a token offer, a small fraction of the initial $ 3 million expected by Bolt’s management.
Agent Ricky Simms has spent the past fortnight attempting to recruit third parties to make more palatable the paltry sum, comprised of $ 100,000 from a marketing agreement with Football Federation Australia and an unknown contribution from the club itself.
Yet despite discussions with several “promising” potential commercial partners, time ran out, the club stood its ground, and the parties amicably separated.
“I would like to thank the Central Coast Mariners owners, management, staff, players and fans for making me feel so welcome during my time there,” Bolt said in a statement issued by the Mariners.
Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp admitted “an air of regret that this huge opportunity wasn’t able to be maximised”.
“There’s no doubt that we all wanted this to work,” Mielekamp said.
“But on the other side, this was a great ride.”
The separation appeared somewhat inevitable – the season has started and coach Mike Mulvey had made it clear Bolt could not expect game time at his current level.
The question now is whether the eight- time Olympic gold medallist’s football dream is finished, or merely between chapters.
“I don’t know what he does next to be honest,” Mielekamp said.
“I’ll leave that for him to comment on.”
Simms declined to comment on Bolt’s next move when contacted but confirmed his client was due to fly to London on November 11 for a prearranged commercial engagement.
It’s understood Bolt, who’s in Melbourne spending time with good friend and fellow track star John Steffensen, will attend Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup before he leaves.
An open offer remains from Valletta FC, the Maltese club that tabled an unconditional two- year contract after he scored two pre- season goals against an NPL side that quickly went viral.