Benjani Mwaruwari Atrributes Fortune To Hard Work

Mwaruwari who pockets US$3 million each year was on Wednesday ranked the highest paid sportsperson in the country according to a salary survey by top New York sports magazine ESPN.

Speaking from his United Kingdom base, Mwaruwari said: “The figures they are using are probably from my days at Manchester City. I took a pay cut at Blackburn but I am at still hovering around that figure. It is all because of hard work.”

According to the ESPN The Magazine/SportingIntelligence Global Salary Survey, Mwaruwari earns $3,405,584 per year in a country with a gross domestic product per capita income of US$384. The survey was based on 182 athletes from Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

The salary survey featured in the ESPN magazine article ‘All About the Money Issue” said Mwaruwari compares well with other English football stars from Africa, earning higher than Morocco and Arsenal forward Marouane Chamakh (US$4,247,000) and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s top earner, Christopher Samba (US$3,000,000), who also plays for Blackburn.

Ivory Coast’s Yaya Toure, who plays for Manchester City, tops the African pay list with an annual salary of US$18,200,000 per year.

Real Madrid star Emmanuel Adebayor tops the pay league in Togo with US$11,900,000 and Samuel Eto’o is Cameroon’s highest earner with US$8,000,000 per year.

Meanwhile world soccer powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid, Major League Baseball’s defending champion New York Yankees