Since Usain Bolt retired from athletics he has journeyed to England, Germany, Norway and now Australia to reach his childhood goal of playing the round ball game.
Bolt’s quest to turn himself from a track athlete to a professional footballer while trialing with A-League club Central Coast Mariners has garnered world-wide attention.
His two goals for the Mariners less than two weeks ago were witnessed by millions and led to reports from media outlets such as ESPN, BBC and CNN.
Subsequent to his goalscoring feats, the Jamaican sprint king was offered a two-year contract by Maltese club Valetta FC. However, Bolt rejected the deal and this week the Mariners have offered the 32-year-old a professional contract which at the time of printing has yet to be accepted.
The man who has helped facilitate the deal with the Mariners and his overseas-based management is Greek Australian football agent Tony Rallis. He told Neos Kosmos that Bolt’s impact on Australian football over the past three months has been mind-blowing.
“Obviously it’s a landmark for me personally,” he says.
“I didn’t expect it to go global to the magnitude that it has. But of course it’s going to go global, you’re talking about Usain Bolt who is in the same company as Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan – he is more than a once-in-a-generation athlete.
“His impact has reached 700 million people who have connected in some way, who were tweeting, commenting, reading about it and watching Usain Bolt play football in Australia.
“I am happy for the fact that our game, and I refer to our game being Australian football, got some recognition world-wide. It got more recognition overseas than it even did in Australia.”
Bolt first made his intention to be a professional footballer known in 2016 and in April this year spent time in Europe with Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. It was during that period that Rallis spoke to the 100-meter world record holder’s management and offered Australia as a potential destination to achieve his football dream.
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