Bolt to switch to football?

Published
0

Asked if he was eyeing a career with a team in a top flight league like the English Premier League or Spain's La liga, Bolt said: “It is difficult to think of plans with a first-level team.” -Photo by AFP

MADRID: Olympic track and field champion Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man, says he would like to play football when he retires from the track.

“I am serious, I believe I could be good at football, I think I could compete well,” the 24-year-old Jamaican said in an interview published on Wednesday in Spanish sports daily Marca.

Asked if he was eyeing a career with a team in a top flight league like the English Premier League or Spain's La liga, he said: “It is difficult to think of plans with a first-level team.”

“Maybe in the future one of those teams will invite me to play for them. But I think that first I need to play a few charity matches to see how I develop,” he added.

Bolt stormed to Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games in a world record time of 9.69 seconds and then bettered that to 9.58sec when winning the world title in Berlin a year later.

He mirrored that feat in the 200m, also setting world records, latterly of 19.19sec in the German capital.

Bolt, a Manchester United fan, met with the Red Devils at their training ground in 2009.

He was a defensive midfielder when he played football in high school.

Opinion

Editorial

Parliament’s place
Updated 11 Oct, 2026

Parliament’s place

In 2015, the parliament had decided to “maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic role to end the crisis”.
Disturbing the peace
11 Oct, 2026

Disturbing the peace

THIS year’s Nobel Peace Prize is well-earned. The winner, South African jurist Dr Navi Pillay, has had an...
A voice in care
10 Oct, 2026

A voice in care

WORLD Mental Health Day this year carries a compelling message. The theme, ‘Lived experiences heard: real voices,...
Midterm break
Updated 10 Oct, 2026

Midterm break

Both the US and Israel need to halt their destructive misadventures in the Middle East.
American barbarism
Updated 10 Oct, 2026

American barbarism

WITH the spectre of defeat in the upcoming midterm elections looming large over the Trump administration, the...