Ronaldo highest-paid footballer as Forbes release 2020 list

Cristiano Ronaldo. A Portuguese professional footballer, plays as a forward for Italian Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal National Team. In the photo, Ronaldo reacts during training session. Photo: DanieleBadolato-JuventusFC/JuventusFC via Getty

The 100 highest-paid athletes earned a combined $3.6 billion this year, which is 9% below 2019 and the first decline since 2016.

Roger Federer takes the top spot for the first time, with $106 million of pre-tax earnings,
edging past Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have swapped the No. 1 spot in three of the past four years. The two soccer icons earned a combined $209 million during the past 12 months, a $28 million drop from 2019, due to salary reductions at many European soccer clubs when league play was halted in March.

Athletes from 21 countries and 10 sports make the final cut this year, as do two women -- Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams – the first time more than one woman has made the ranks since 2016, when Williams appeared with Maria Sharapova.

See the top 10 highest-paid athletes according to Forbes based on their earnings in the past 12 months 👇

RANKING	ATHLETE & COUNTRY	SPORT	EARNINGS ($)
1.	Roger Federer (Switzerland)	Tennis	106.3 million
2.	Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)	Soccer	105 million
3.	Lionel Messi (Argentina)	Soccer	104 million
4.	Neymar (Brazil)	Soccer	95.5 million
5.	Lebron James (United States)	Basketball	88.2 million
6.	Stephen Curry (United States)	Basketball	74.4 million
7.	Kevin Durant (United States)	Basketball	63.9 million
8.	Tiger Woods (United States)	Golf	62.3 million
9.	Kirk Cousins (United States)	Football	60.5 million
10.	Carson Wentz (United States)	Football	59.1 million