Ribery’s woes are a cautionary tale

THE mind boggles at the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

A lot of it is driven by boredom we suppose. Not for them the regular, the ordinary, the every day. When you can have anything and everything you want, only the best will do.

More than anything it seems to be a performative thing. Why wear a gaudy, clunky €100,000 watch? To show that you can. To show that you’re wealthy enough to. To show that you belong in that strata of society.

There are things people of immense wealth do that simply wouldn’t cross our minds. Like say, for example, spending €1,200 on a gold-gilded steak. Until a few days ago we had no idea such a thing existed, let alone that it could be purchased, but thanks to Franck Ribery now we do.

The French international – long a magnet for controversy – posted a picture of himself with said steak in Dubai last week, unleashing a fire storm of criticism of him. It’s interesting to consider why people reacted so furiously to Ribery and to the golden steak.

Every fan of the game knows the crazy money these guys earn. It can’t have come as a surprise to anybody that Ribery could afford to spend €1,200 on a steak. When eighteen and nineteen-year olds are buying Baby Bentleys, what’s €1,200?

A pittance, a drop in an ocean of vast wealth and, yet, there’s something so utterly decadent about the idea of a golden steak – you would literally flush the gold down the toilet – that people’s reaction is understandable.

It went to show how far removed from his roots this working class hero had gone. It showed quite vividly how out of whack football has gone from the lives of those who support it.

Probably, yes, the abuse dished out to Ribery went over the line, but the spitting, snarling contemptuous response of Ribery to the criticism made his critics’ point for him.

The game’s gone.