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SYDNEY, Australia – Usain Bolt, eight-time Olympic champion and the fastest man in the world, could soon realize his dream of becoming a professional football player after reaching an agreement with the smallest Australian team, said an agent on Tuesday. Bolt, 31, will participate in a six-week trial starting next month with the Central Coast Mariners, a club located outside of Sydney. If all goes well, the Jamaican star should enter into an agreement with the Mariners in October.
"After 12 weeks of going back and forth, we have a club, a trade agreement, we just need our football federation to come to the party and we have an agreement," said Tony Rallis, the sports agent who facilitated the agreement.
Australia A-League has long dreamed of a superstar talent The Australian fans of the match nevertheless hailed the fact that Bolt has passed to football with skepticism, calling it "disaster," "ridicule," and "disaster." "just farcical."
Some have called Bolt's recruitment a publicity stunt by a league fighting for legitimacy after a disappointing season, but Bolt is serious about his ambition
"For me, it's a big problem," he told the Herald Sun in April. world has the impression of joking, joking, but I am serious. "
Bolt grew up playing football before e take his talents on the track. He holds world records for the 100 and 200 meter sprints and the 4×100 meter relay.
Since retiring from last year, he has tried several European football clubs, including Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Stromsgodset in Norway. After the trial in Dortmund, the head coach of the club said that the sprinter still had work to do.
But football leaders in Australia believed that the A-League, a young organization that fought the perfect place for Bolt to launch his new career.
"Usain has a direct affiliation with Australia," said Shaun Mielekamp, general manager of Central Coast Mariners. "He has been here many times and loves the country."
"We also believe that the A-League is at the right level, where he can better show his footballing qualities," he said.
Mielekamp defends accusations that the case was a trick, saying that his club wanted to give Bolt every chance to prove that he was ready for a professional football contract.
Rallis, the agent, declined to say how much Bolt would be paid if the agreement with the Mariners went through, although he said that it was "far from" 39, be as high as we could expect. " The Football Federation Australia, which should pay part of his salary, must accept the deal, in addition to his trial. 19659002] Located in Gosford, the Mariners finished at the bottom of the league last season. The team undergoes a major overhaul, naming a new coach and recruiting over a dozen new players.
The club also announced this week the appointment of a new sports director, Mike Phelan, a coach and former player who spent a large sum. part of his career with Manchester United. Phelan will oversee the Bolt trial next month.
"There is a real revolution," Mielekamp said of the club's transformation
. Piero, David Villa and Robbie Fowler. But Bolt would be by far the league's biggest name, and his departure would be a crucial moment in his history.
"It will be exciting if it manages to reach the level we need," said Mielekamp about Bolt.
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