Lionel Messi

[yon Beast]

Salary
In December 2012, FC Barcelona announced that Messi will sign a 5 year contract extension which will keep him at FC Barcelona until 2018 and raising his base salary to €16 million net ($21.2 million), which will make him the highest on-the-pitch earner in soccer. As the tax bracket for this level of income in Spain is 56%, it means that Barça will have to pay Messi's income tax of a little over €20 million ($26.5 million).[271] His formal buy-out clause remains at €250 million

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi

I may be reading that wrong...but I think it says his 21.2 million a year is tax free...??
The team paying him pays the income taxes??

This guy makes a lot of money!
He is probably the best at what he does. I'm not excited about his contract as the fact that the team picks up his income tax. Is that the case with any other sport?
I see 21.2 million a year...I figure he still has to pay taxes. When I see a baseball player making a million a year... I've always thought they still must pay taxes on a million.

so actually, Mr. Messi makes an equivalent of 47.7 million a year PLUS endorsements....but over half go to taxes

Soccer....er...football(?)....has become much more lucrative than I would have thought.