If it's not Melo, who is the richest player in football?

Bokia at the wedding of Brunei royals (first from right)

The reporter reported coldly Who is the richest footballer in the world? On the list of various player wealth every year, Ronaldo and Messi have been among the best for many years without suspense. In addition, there is Messi's boss Beckham in Miami International, and Neymar and Benzema, who are rich like Ronaldo because of Saudi Arabia's sky-high annual salary. However, if wealth in the legal sense is the criterion, the title of the richest player in the world is different, and he is an unknown person in the world of football.

Bokia, the real richest player in the football world, has just recovered from a serious leg injury and is sitting on the bench of the Thai Super League team Ratchaburi waiting for his chance. The Brunei left winger, who turns 27 on May 9, doesn't really want to be known as the world's richest player, but his birthright to inherit his family's wealth cannot be changed – he has the "status" of the heir to the Sultan of Brunei. He has always played very low-key and hopes to be like his idol Cristiano Ronaldo. Bokia earns only 100,000 baht (about $3,000) a month in Thai Super League Ratchaburi after he rejected offers from the club's top brass for high salaries.

Unlike stars like Ronaldo and Messi, who are rich in football, if Bokia doesn't play hard, he really wants to go home to "inherit the throne". The wealth list of major players is generally valued at $20 billion for his wealth. The second-ranked Ronaldo is valued at only $800 million, followed by Messi ($650 million) and David Beckham ($450 million), and the combined wealth of the three world football superstars is only 1/10 of that of Bokia.

However, the "world's richest player" hyped by the European and American media has a lot of controversy about his real wealth. His eldest uncle, Hassan Bokiah, is the Sultan of Brunei and has a fortune valued at $40 billion, and his father, Prince Jeffrey, has an estimated fortune of $20 billion. However, Bokiah himself is only the 23rd heir to the "throne" of the Sultan of Brunei, and he is only the 12th in line to inherit the throne in his own family, because his father, Prince Geoffrey, has been married 5 times and has 18 children. It is inevitable that wealth will continue to decline along with the succession line, and the wealth possessed by Bokia is clearly exaggerated by the media. Even if Bokia gets only 5% of the family fortune, $1 billion would be enough for him to retain the title of "the richest player in the world".

Born in Los Angeles, Bokia grew up in England and was deeply influenced by English football culture from an early age, but he never made it to the top of Southampton, Chelsea and Leicester City. The reason why Leicester City can enter the echelon of Leicester City is also because of Leicester City's Thai-Chinese boss Xu Liming (Thai name Vichai) has a close relationship with the Sultan of Brunei. Later, he also attended Vichai's funeral with his family members. At that time, his teammates knew that Bokia was a man who "had a throne to inherit" and did not have to play football to make a living. But he has been travelling between England, Portugal and Thailand for more than a decade to prove that he loves football and does not want to enjoy life as empty as his brothers.

In 2015, the 17-year-old Bokiah captained the Brunei Under-23 national team in the men's football competition at the SEA Games. He is the second member of Brunei's royal family to participate in an international sports competition after Brunei Crown Prince Mukhtadi Bilah, but Bila participated in a billiards match that year. The hard-working Bokia has led the sporting ethos of the Brunei royal family, and his father, Jeffrey, won a gold medal in polo at the 2019 SEA Games.

Bokia didn't want to be as famous for his lavish lifestyle as his father, Jeffrey, who spent $17 million on his 50th birthday for pop superstar Michael Jackson to sing at his birthday party and put on a private concert for Bokia Jr., who was 7 years old at the time. At its peak, Prince Geoffrey controlled more than 250 companies, owned more than 2,300 luxury cars, including 500 Rolls-Royce, and owned the world's largest private yacht displacement (12,500 tons).

Bokia rarely gives interviews, but he has been received by the Queen because of his status as the heir to the Sultan of Brunei. But like his peers, he likes to share his life on social media accounts, including photos with his twin sister Ziana and photos of white tiger pets. His current INS account has 245,000 followers, which does not match his real popularity in the football world. Similarly, he is one of the very few players in the world of football whose wealth is not largely based on footballing achievements.

It is worth mentioning that former Arsenal's French midfielder Flamini has also been named the "richest player in the world" by major lists. There were reports that the GF chemical group, of which he was a co-founder, had a market value of up to 30 billion euros, but the rumors were quickly debunked by Flamini himself. He said the report was a "beautiful misunderstanding." The valuation of 30 billion euros is the entire industry, and his company GF Chemicals only received 15 million US dollars in Series A financing in 2022, with an annual turnover of only 7 million US dollars, and only 80 employees, and his personal wealth is only 1/120 (250 million euros) of this figure.