Why cash incentives influence athletes’ behaviour, output

By John Nandwa

Nairobi County Senator Gideon Mbuvi Sonko is one of a few group of leaders who could be described as ‘a friend of football.’

In recent times, the maverick Senator has stood out for offering moral as well as financial support to the national team Harambee Stars.

As the World Cup Qualifiers’ return leg pitting Kenya and Nigeria inches ever closer, only a brave man would bet against ‘Sonko’ once again throwing in incentives to motivate the players as he did when the team returned from Nigeria two months ago and met them at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with loads of cash.

In football, it is not uncommon for teams to be offered financial incentives over and above their normal wages.

Indeed, it is easy to see a relationship between how a team perform when there are financial incentives and when none is on offer.

We know that incentives are a powerful method of influencing the behaviour of sportsmen.

That our middle and long-distance athletes are generally known to perform well in the lucrative European circuit races such as the Diamond League and Grand Prix perhaps is a good illustration.

In football, however, player earnings are rarely linked to the success of the team.

Some clubs in Europe particularly, do include clauses that depend on criteria such as Champions League qualification, retaining Premier League status or the player staying fit.

The remuneration schedule of the player’s contract could be used as a tool to better align interests between club and player.

But it is a different ball-game when it comes to rewards based on goals scored.

As much as we pine for the next round of Sonko’s generosity towards the national team, it’s worth considering risks that could come as a result of promising rewards to goals scored during a match.

Indeed, whilst incentivising goals may sound like a good idea, goal bonuses could inevitably result in internal conflicts between team success (passing to an open player) and personal benefit (taking the low-percentage shot from outside the area).

For instance, what happens the next time a striker finds the ball at his feet inside the penalty area and there is, say, Sh50,000 or Sh100,000 resting on it?

If he shoots and misses, when a team mate is in a better position, the first people who notice will be his team-mates. And what would be their reaction?

Perhaps to underline the absurdity of it all, what happens to those who play in positions which make it difficult to get on the score sheet?:

Defenders getting bonuses for great tackles or goalline clearances?

A striker has to be selfish sometimes, but bonuses as the Football Kenya Federation has recently offered the national team, should be team-related.

A more rational approach would see teams rewarding behaviours that actually correlate with the overall success of the team.

This could range from: players maintaining a target weight, avoiding red cards or, more radically, giving incentives to players who maintain discipline and focus on their social lives.

When a footballer is playing, the only thing he can think about is winning, not earning money, but it becomes difficult to know, in the fraction of a second when an opportunity to score arises if a goal bonus could influence the decision whether to pass to a colleague or shoot himself.

— The writer is a football fan and commentator on social issues