Superstar athletes of Nigerian descent Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Joshua make Forbes’ list of 100 highest-paid athletes in the world

Forbes have released their annual list of the highest-paid athletes of 2020.

Superstar athletes of Nigerian descent Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Joshua are the leading Africans in Forbes’ latest list of the 100 highest-paid athletes in the world.

In the annual list released by Forbes, athletes are ranked according to how much they made in the last year.

Anthony Joshua is 19th on the Forbes' List (PA)

Basketball star Giannis who is born to Nigerian parents is 18th on the list with $47.6m in earnings from basketball and endorsements.

19th on the list is another athlete born to Nigerian parents, boxer Joshua who earned $47m in the last one year from salary, winning bonuses and endorsements.

African athletes

Fully representing Africa are football star Mohamed Salah who plays for Liverpool in England, who is 34th with $435.1m from his salary and endorsements while Cameroonian basketball star Joel Emibiid is 60th with $26.7m from salary and endorsements.

Footballers

With footballers’ earnings taking a hit due to pay cuts because of the coronavirus pandemic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who have swapped the number one position for four years have been displaced by tennis legend Roger Federer with $106 million of pre-tax earnings.

Roger Federer is number one on the Forbes's list of the highest-earning athletes of 2020 (Instagram/Roger Federer)

Juventus star Ronaldo made $105m in the last one year while Messi took home $104 to take the second and third position respectively.

In summary, there are athletes from 21 countries and 10 sports while more NBA players make the list than any other sport.

31 football stars made the cut, up from 19 a year ago.

Top 20

1. Roger Federer ($106.3M)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo ($105M)

3. Lionel Messi ($104M)

4. Neymar ($95.5m)

5. LeBron James ($88.2M)

6. Stephen Curry ($74.4M)

7. Kevin Durant ($63.9M)

8.Tiger Woods ($62.3M)

9. Kirk Cousins (60.5M)

10. Carson Wentz ($59.1M)

11. Tyson Fury ($57M)

12. Russel Westbrook ($56m)

13. Lewis Hamilton ($54M)

14. Rory McIlroy ($52M)

15. Jared Goff ($49M)

16. Conor McGregor ($48M)

17. James Harden ($47.8M)

18. Giannis Antetikounmpo (447.6M)

19. Anthony Joshua ($47M)

20. Doentay Wilder (446.5M).