In English football, clubs are able to fine a player up to two weeks’ wages for a misdemeanour.
French law forbids any deductions from a worker’s salary. Sports teams therefore make a small portion of it an ethics bonus. The base wage and the ethics bonus are in effect a player’s total salary.
In 2021 it was claimed in some reports that Neymar received extra money for clapping the fans, but the details paint a different picture.
Neymar was expected to behave responsibly to sponsors and referees. He had to turn up to training on time and was barred from placing bets. In effect, it was a moral code.
“Clubs are very keen to protect their image,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport.
“They don’t want anybody going nuclear and criticising the club, which means that they call them good behaviour clauses.
“We saw similar with Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong [who had morals clauses with sponsors]. So behavioural clauses are quite common within sport.”
In 2018, Marco Verratti had part of his ethics bonus withheld, external after being caught drink-driving.
Hatem Ben Arfa also lost the bonus, external when he failed to attend PSG’s mid-season training camp in Qatar.
In 2023, Lionel Messi was punished by PSG after making an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.
Rugby union club Racing 92 took action against winger Teddy Thomas by “retaining his ethics bonus for February”, external after an incident following a Six Nations match between France and Scotland.