In English football, clubs are able to fine a player up to two weeks’ wages for a misdemeanour. <\/p>\n
French law forbids any deductions from a worker’s salary. Sports teams therefore make a small portion of it an ethics bonus. The base wage and the ethics bonus are in effect a player’s total salary. <\/p>\n
In 2021 it was claimed in some reports that Neymar received extra money for clapping the fans, but the details paint a different picture.<\/p>\n
Neymar was expected to behave responsibly to sponsors and referees. He had to turn up to training on time and was barred from placing bets. In effect, it was a moral code. <\/p>\n
“Clubs are very keen to protect their image,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport. <\/p>\n
“They don’t want anybody going nuclear and criticising the club, which means that they call them good behaviour clauses.<\/p>\n
“We saw similar with Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong [who had morals clauses with sponsors]. So behavioural clauses are quite common within sport.”<\/p>\n
In 2018, Marco Verratti had part of his ethics bonus withheld, external<\/a> after being caught drink-driving. <\/p>\n Hatem Ben Arfa also lost the bonus, external<\/a> when he failed to attend PSG’s mid-season training camp in Qatar.<\/p>\n In 2023, Lionel Messi was punished by PSG after making an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n