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Football stars insuring their legs? Yep, it’s all part of the price to pay for being a prized soccer star. At the end of the day, their career and livelihood are what’s on the line. So, it makes sense to want to insure a body part that’s arguably the most important part of their job, right?
True that to the average person, these figures are beyond absurd, especially because many of us wouldn’t make what they pay for a body part in two lifetimes. Not even if one were to gamble at the best casinos for Australians – let alone working your run-of-the-mill 9-5 office job!
While it’s decidedly less common than your average house insurance or car insurance policy, there are plenty of insurers out there who are happy to help people take out specialty body part insurance. This ranges from the Playboy model who insured her breasts to the Cadbury tester who insured her tastebuds. Protecting your source of income through body part insurance is much the same as income protection insurance, after all. So let’s examine some of the biggest insurance policies that football players have allegedly taken out to protect their greatest money-makers.
Cristiano Ronaldo
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Cristiano Ronaldo should not be a surprising addition to this list, given his superstar status. In 2009, the Real Madrid player reportedly had his legs insured for a cool $144 million. After the player had a bit of a tousle in the pre-season that resulted in a minor injury to his knee, it was said that the club itself took out an insurance policy to guard themselves against losses should Ronaldo be injured.
Of course, Ronaldo’s legs are still working just fine, thank you very much. He is now the only player to have scored in five different World Cups, been named as the most capped footballer of all time, is currently playing and contracted with the Al Nassr Saudi Arabian football club until 2025, and has been named in Portugal’s team for the UEFA Euro 2024.
David Beckham
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Before his retirement, Becks was known for his ace game on the field, as one of the most instantly recognisable stars of the sport worldwide. Back in 2006, David Beckham reportedly took out a body part insurance policy for $195 million that covered both his legs, as well as his face. As a footballer, the legs part is a bit obvious: without the use of his legs, he could no longer play. However, the face insurance was to do with the many lucrative sponsorship deals that the handsome player received.
While Beckham has long since retired, he is still the face of a number of companies and products. With a less hazard-prone life off the field, it’s unlikely that Becks still has this particular insurance policy in play.
Lionel Messi
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The name on everyone’s lips over the past year, Lionel Messi, is also reportedly a member of the body part insurance club. It is said that Messi’s left foot insurance is valued at a whopping $818M, blowing the competition out of the water like he so often does on the field.
The Argentina captain has been named Sportsman of the Year, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, and has won no less than seven Ballon d’Or awards, a record for the sport. With so much riding on his game, it’s no wonder that his insurance policy is so high for his predominant left foot.
Iker Casillas
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Of course, it’s not just legs and feet that footballers can get insured. Particularly for goalkeepers, there is another just as important body part to consider – their hands. And so is the case for Iker Casillas, the star goalkeeper at Real Madrid for most of his career. Iker, in 2007, insured his ball-grabbing assets for around $10M with Groupama Insurance. According to the web, this covered injuries both on and off the field.
While he’s retired from the game now, you’ll be happy to hear that Iker’s hands are doing just fine. Now, Casillas works as a commentator, so his hands are not so important for the job. Perhaps he has switched insurance to his voice, instead?
Is it really necessary?
While plenty of celebrities, including many soccer stars, have insured their body parts for sometimes ridiculous sums, there is not a lot of evidence of any of these policies actually being claimed against. Is it really necessary to have body part insurance, or are there now more appropriate insurance policies that can help protect these stars against future earnings losses in the case of a catastrophe? That’s up to the player, their advisors, the clubs, and the insurers themselves to figure out.
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