Lionel Messi The richest footballer 2011

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi was ranked fourth athlete rather than nationality United States the world's largest income in 2011 was released to Sports Illustrated. However, for categories of athletes football, no one plays on Messi.

Here is the full list

1. Roger Federer (tennis) - U.S. $ 52,781,940 (USD 452 869 045 200)
2. Manny Pacquiao (boxing) - U.S. $ 52.5 million (USD 450 450 000 000)
3. Fernando Alonso (auto racing) - U.S. $ 45 million (USD 386.1 billion)
4. Lionel Messi (soccer) - U.S. $ 43.8 million (USD 375 804 000 000)
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) - U.S. $ 38.8 million (USD 332 904 000 000)
6. Yao Ming (basketball) - U.S. $ 35,686,100 (USD 306 186 738 000)
7. Rafael Nadal (tennis) - U.S. $ 31,506,278 (USD 270 323 865 240)
8. Valentino Rossi (motorcycling) - U.S. $ 30 million (USD 257.4 billion)
9. Wayne Rooney (soccer) - U.S. $ 29.2 million (USD 250 536 000 000)
10. Kaka (soccer) - U.S. $ 27.3 million (USD 234 234 000 000)
11. David Beckham (soccer) - U.S. $ 26.8 million (USD 229 944 000 000)
12. Ronaldinho (soccer) - U.S. $ 25.8 million (USD 221 364 000 000)
13. Ichiro Suzuki (baseball) - U.S. $ 24 million (USD 205 920 000 000)
14. Lewis Hamilton (racing cars) - U.S. $ 24 million (USD 205 920 000 000)
15. Carlos Tevez (soccer) - U.S. $ 21.7 million (USD 186 186 000 000)
16. Dirk Nowitzki (basketball) - U.S. $ 21,278,618 (USD 182 570 542 440)
17. Paul Gasol (basketball) - U.S. $ 20,822,187 (USD 178 654 364 460)
18. Miguel Cabrera (baseball) - U.S. $ 20.25 million (USD 173 745 000 000)
19. Frank Lampard (football) - U.S. $ 20.1 million (USD 172 458 000 000)
20. Michael Schumacher (motor racing) - U.S. $ 20 million (USD 171.6 billion)