Basic points of the contract that you should look for, what should the contract contain and what are the benefits and standards in the offered conditions.
It is quite difficult to talk about Europe, Asia, or Arabia in general, because each has its own story, especially in terms of wages and costs of living. There are though some things in common for each of them and the contracts they offer.
We have already mentioned this in other articles, but we will repeat few things again.
There are many different factors that influence the decision as to whether a contract offer is good enough for you to accept, based on your individual situation, needs and preferences. The cost of living can vary greatly from country to country. So, if you have two different contract offers from different countries, which is always the better case and the amount is higher in one compared to the other, it does not necessarily mean that it is better.
What should the contract contain?
- Return flights – this should be the standard for all teams
- Insurance – even if some teams don’t care about it, the risk of injury is quite high for you as a player, and if something happens, you have to be safe, you should get the proper treatment and care that is needed. Always make sure that the contract includes insurance in case you are injured, so that you do not have to pay for everything yourself.
- Visa – In almost all the European countries you don’t need a visa to enter and you can stay without a visa for three months because you are considered a tourist. But after these three months, you have to leave the country, otherwise you may face the consequences. You are responsible, not the team is responsible if you exceed the permitted length of stay without visa. The penalty may be the payment of a fee, depending on how long you have exceeded the permitted length of stay, a ban on entering the European Union or a specific country for a certain period of time, which may jeopardize your career abroad in the future. In some countries, border control is not so strict, so you can leave without realizing it, but there is no need to take risks and it is necessary to find out with the club whether they have experience with taking care of the visa and see what the procedure will be. It is always better to start managing your visa while you are at home and not risking anything.
- Housing – clubs offer various types of accommodation, from well-kept apartments with teammates, a separate apartment, hotel rooms or some dormitory. You should make sure to find out exactly where you will be staying and if so also ask for photos of the place where you will spend the next in most cases 8-9 months.
- Team equipment and clothing – It is good to find out exactly what will the club provide you with (training uniform, sneakers, winter jackets, bags, etc.), so that you know how many things you have to pack yourself. Because we all know the surcharges at the airport for luggage are not always the cheapest
- Salary – the amount varies depending on other benefits provided and obviously from the country and league you will play
However, some benefits that are not considered standardized are very often able to be offered by teams such as: public transport cards or bicycles, in some cases car, food (1 to 3 meals a day, or a meal allowance, which is added separately to the salary), performance bonuses, massages and so on. Now, if the contract offer consists of all or most of the benefits listed above, you can begin to consider the salary offered.
Monthly salaries vary widely depending on the sport and the country in which you operate. Although it sounds strange, in some countries, if you have covered all the benefits and daily meals, you will be able to live on the amount of 200-300 euros/month. The cheapest countries are Serbia, Hungary, Poland. On the other hand, some countries are quite expensive and you could have difficulty with earning 800-1,000 euros/month without food provided by the team. The Scandinavian countries (Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway) are known to be quite expensive to live in, followed by France, Belgium, Germany and Austria.
So, how do I know that the amount is good enough and which offer is better? You need to check the information. To get started, check out some pages that show the average cost of living and some prices in certain countries. When you gather enough information, think about how much you would spend on food (if you don’t have it covered by the team). Because food is the item for which you will probably spend the most money. In some cases, almost your entire salary could go to food, so make sure your food costs don’t exceed your salary. Another thing is what you plan to do in your free time, if the club trains in 2 phases (in the morning and in the afternoon), so you won’t have that much free time meaning you will save more money but if you train only 3-4 times a week, you will have a lot of free time. If you try to save money and limit your activities off the field, you will obviously not have as much costs. However, if you want to travel, have fun, go out with teammates, take hiking trips and explore the country, don’t expect to save a lot of money but you will have lifelong experiences.
In the next Article we will bring you some specific points which the contract should contain; such as, a clause when and under what conditions would the contract be terminated, how much will I get as a severance pay, whether the contract should contain redemption value of a player, etc.
Keep following us if you want to increase your chances of being discovered by a club and don’t hesitate to register on our website: Trophy 14 – Home
