Zharnel Hughes yet to be paid by Michael Johnson's troubled Grand Slam Track league
The new athletics competition, which Michael Johnson fronted, was cut short after three of the planned four weekends following sparse crowds in meetings in Kingston, Jamaica, Miami and Philadelphia.
Hughes, who respectively won $130,000 (£96,000) across those three events, is among a large group of athletes who are understood to be collectively owed millions. Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas – who raced in the first three events – commented on a Grand Slam Track social media post earlier this month by saying: 'Pls pay me'.
Grand Slam Track have reportedly told agents that they intend to get the prize money for the opener in Jamaica paid by the end of July and the other two fixtures by the end of September. A main draw of the competition was the prize money, with event winners each due to receive $100,000 (£74,000). As well as Hughes, British runners Matthew Hudson-Smith and Josh Kerr had respectively won $220,000 (£163,000) and $162,500 (£120,000) this year in the Grand Slam Track.
Although payment for athletics events does often only arrive late in a track season, the sudden end to the Grand Slam Track season has only heightened concerns about the viability of the concept.
'My agent has been in contact with them – so it's not like I'm studying about what's going on with regards to my payment – but I do know I haven't received funds yet,' said Hughes, an Olympic, World and European Championship medallist.
'I think he did mention that the appearance fee funds did come through, but in regards to the actual race money, it hasn't come through as yet.
'I thoroughly enjoyed the competition – it helped me. In regards to the payment, it's almost like a regular season where you run a couple of Diamond League races, you run other races, and you get paid in the latter part of the season.
'I think most people are looking at it as, 'Why are we not getting paid right now?' I'm just looking to see if you get paid by August, September, the time we usually get paid by.'
Asked if he would compete next year, the British 100m and 200m record holder added: 'I think a lot of the athletes that participated in it thoroughly enjoyed it ... but obviously, now that the payment has been delayed and they fell short by not having the last Grand Slam, people might be a bit more hesitant.
'It kind of sucked not having it over in Europe. Maybe, if they do go again next season, they can get some races over here in Europe because people love track and field and you won't have to worry about filling up the stadiums.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Michail Antonio scores TWICE in his first West Ham start since near-fatal Ferrari crash 'completely shattered' his leg seven months ago
Michail Antonio scored twice in his first start for West Ham just seven months after a terrifying car crash left him needing surgery and fearing for his career. Antonio escaped the incident with a badly broken leg and had his femur bone put back together after it was shattered in four places. The forward had not featured in a match since crashing his Ferrari into a tree in December until he suited up for his national team last week. The 35-year-old was back on the pitch for Jamaica's Gold Cup opener against Guatemala, coming off the bench in the 85th minute. And on Friday night, Antonio took another step in his recovery, playing 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors West Ham Under 21 friendly against Boreham Wood. It took him just 20 minutes to net a brace as the Hammers marched to a 4-1 victory. He will be keen to prove his fitness with his West Ham contract, which is believed to be around £90,000 a week, coming to an end. Antonio is currently weighing up his options after rejecting a short-term deal on lower wages. 'He's looking at what offers he gets,' a senior Hammers source recently told Mail Sport. West Ham announced earlier this month they will continue to support Antonio throughout his comeback, even though he will officially been listed as a ' free transfer '. West Ham announced earlier this month they will continue to support Antonio throughout his comeback, even though he will officially been listed 'Given Michail Antonio's unique situation, following his serious road traffic accident in December 2024, there will be no formal decision and announcement on his future until such time that it is considered right and appropriate,' the statement read. 'However, as his current contract is also due to expire on 30 June, for the purposes of the Premier League Retained List procedure at the end of the 2024/25 season, Michail will be listed as a free transfer. 'As a long-serving, highly-respected player, and a much-loved member of the West Ham family, the club's absolute priority at this time is to support Michail personally in his journey to resume playing at the highest level.' The West Ham record Premier League goal-scorer revisited his old car's remains at a scrapyard in March, which put the horror incident into perspective. 'It gave me a weird feeling in my stomach,' Antonio told BBC One programme Morning Live. 'It just made me realise how close I was to dying. I had seen the pictures, but it was 10 times worse in person. The car was an absolute mess. It was difficult for me. 'All I know is that I hit a tree - I don't know how I hit a tree - and that the police came and when they found me in the car, I was in between the two seats. 'From the crash, I've been more of an emotional man. I was avoiding going back because I was slightly embarrassed by the crash and the accident. Obviously I've almost died in the car crash.' The accident was Antonio's second in a fast car after he crashed his £210,000 Lamborghini Huracan into a bin shed in Balham, south London, on Christmas Day 2019 while dressed as a snowman.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
About 100 players, two dozen club employees face fines for selling Super Bowl tickets
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - About 100 NFL players and two dozen employees from several teams face fines for selling this year's Super Bowl tickets for more than face value, a source told Reuters on Friday, activity that violated a long-standing league policy. Players will be fined 1.5 times the face value of the ticket they sold while club employees will be fined twice the amount. ESPN first broke the news on the fines. League and team employees, including players, are prohibited from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than face value or more than they paid. NFL players have an opportunity to buy two Super Bowl tickets at face value. None of the individuals involved or their teams were identified. In the 2025 contest, when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, the most expensive tickets at the New Orleans' Superdome had a face value of about $7,500 and were priced as high as $56,770 on the resale market . In a memo seen by Reuters, the league's head of compliance told clubs the department was in the process of concluding its investigation into the matter. "The investigation has revealed that club employees and players sold their tickets to a small number of 'bundlers' who were working with a ticket reseller to sell the Super Bowl tickets above face value," the document read. "Those that worked to 'bundle' the tickets, or otherwise had a greater role, will face increased penalties." The NFL will enhance its mandatory compliance training ahead of the Super Bowl in 2026, which will be held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, according to the memo. Super Bowl tickets are among the most coveted in all of North American professional sport, with fans routinely shelling out thousands of dollars to attend the NFL's championship game that is watched religiously by millions across the U.S.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
NFL fines 100 players for Super Bowl ticket scalping
The NFL has fined 100 players and two dozen club officials for selling Super Bowl tickets above face value, according to reports. While players and officials are allowed to sell tickets at face value, they are banned from doing so at inflated prices. The face value price for Super Bowl tickets for the clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, which included a half-time performance by Kendrick Lamar, earlier this year, varied between $950 and $7,500 each. However, the average resale price hit $10,417 on ticketing websites. The minimum salary for a 'rookie' NFL player is understood to be around $750,000 a year. But once established, their annual pay packet can hit $5m, with superstars – often quarterbacks – frequently earning twice as much. Details of the clandestine transactions followed an investigation by the NFL. 'The investigation has revealed that club employees and players sold their tickets to a small number of 'bundlers' who were working with a ticket reseller to sell the Super Bowl tickets above face value,' Sabrina Perel, the head of compliance at the NFL, wrote in a memo. Players who touted tickets will be fined one and a half times the face value of the ticket and banned from buying any for the 2026 Super Bowl, unless their team is competing. Officials will be fined double the face value of the tickets. However, the move merely scratches the surface of a flourishing industry in reselling tickets to major sporting and entertainment events. Resell market worth $3.4bn According to industry estimates, the resale market, which is legal in the US, was worth $3.4bn last year. The practice is controversial with some companies using 'bots' – computerised programmes – to hoover up thousands of tickets at a time as soon as they go on sale, before putting them back on the market at vastly inflated prices. To the fury of President Donald Trump, previous attempts to curb the use of bots have failed, leaving fans having to pay as much as 70 times the face value of a ticket. In March, Mr Trump signed an executive order to protect fans from ticket touting and crack down on what he described as 'unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists'.
