Image: Demba Ba in action for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Greenland.
The China Football Association CFA may offer Chinese soccer players an improved leg insurance worth up to 10 million yuan, reports say.
This welfare consideration comes as a result of Demba Ba’s scary leg fracture sustained while playing in the Chinese Super League (CSL) for Shanghai Greenland.
The former Chelsea striker Demba Ba’s was hit with a career-threatening leg fracture, which the U.K. Daily Express reports as one of the top 15 worst in history.
The association is currently negotiating a deal with an unidentified insurance company to grant Chinese national team soccer players disability income insurance, an anonymous source close to the negotiation told China Youth Daily.
The insurance would be similar to policies for soccer greats like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, whose policies insure their legs for £100 million and $144 million respectively. The highest insurance benefits in China could reach 100 million yuan, according to the source.
For Demba Ba, despite his serious injury, the situation could be worse. The 31-year-old signed a three-year contract with Chinese Super League team Shanghai Greenland for 16 million euros in June of 2015.
The serious leg injury, which happened during a Sunday Shanghai derby, will allegedly becovered in full by his club under the category of accidental injury insurance, according to ananonymous, Shanghai-based insider.
“Agents for important players like Demba Ba will demand accidental injury insurance as acondition for signing a deal. It is a common practice internationally,” the insider told China Youth Daily, adding that the insurance benefits vary based on the player’s position and skill level.
Chinese soccer players have yet to enjoy such comprehensive insurance for accidental injuries during games. The current insurance policy for national team players offers a maximum of 180,000 yuan per year for injured female players and the up to 1 million yuan for male players.
It is unlikely that these policies would be sufficient in the case of a costly operation or treatment for a serious injury.
Image shows Demba Ba on a hospital bed.
Image: Demba Ba and Obafemi Martins.
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