Lionel Messi dey top Forbes list of highest paid 100 athletes
According to Forbes, Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi na di highest paid athlete, for di past 12 months, with earnings of $127m (£99.8m).
Messi don score 603 goals inside 687 matches for Barcelona Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo dey second position with $109m (£85.6m) while Paris St-Germain Brazil forward Neymar dey third position with $105m (£82.5m). Last year di highest earner na boxer Floyd Mayweather, wey don drop comot from di list. Serena Williams na di only woman inside di top 100 earning list with $29.2m (£22.9m). Five-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and former heavyweight Anthony Joshua na di highest earning British athletes, dem sidon for 13th position with $55m (£43.2m). Di way wey di American business magazine take calculate dia money dem add dia prize money, salary and endorsement dem between June 2018 and June 2019. After Messi na Ronaldo wey win UEFA Nations League with Portugal be number two Di top 100 include athletes from 25 kontries dem and dia $4bn (£3,1bn) combined earnings increase by 5% from di previous year, wen Mayweather finish first with $285m (£224m). Di American boxer only fight since August 2017 na exhibition boxing bout against Japan kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa for December. Athletes need to earn minimum of $25m (£19.6m) to make this year list. Messi na di second footballer to top di list afta Ronaldo and na di eight athlete to take di number one position since di ranking start for 1990. Na di first time wey footballers be di top three earners for sports. Messi na one of di 38 non- American wey dey di list wey get 62 US stars for di top 100. Di NBA get di biggest number with 35, LA Lakers player LeBron James na di sports highest paid athlete im dey number eight position with $89m ahead of Golden State Warriors pair Stephen Curry (9th on $79.8m) and Kevin Durant (10th on $65.4m). Top 10 1. Lionel Messi $127m (£99.8m) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo $109m (£85.6m) 3. Neymar $105m (£82.5m) 4. Canelo Alvarez $94m (£73.8m) 5. Roger Federer $93.4m (£73.3) 6. Russell Wilson $89.5m (£70.3m) 7. Aaron Rodgers $89.3m £70.1m) 8. LeBron James $89m (£69.9m) 9. Stephen Curry $79.8m (£62.7m) 10, Kevin Durant $65.4m (£51.3m)