Playing Professional Soccer as a Side Hustle: Quincy Promes

Many kids have the dream of playing soccer professionally and although few get the chance it would make sense that it would be the top priority of anyone who managed to reach those heights. However, one man from the Netherlands saw soccer stardom more as a Sunday league appearance than a day job. Quincy Promes was a young Dutch player who found professional success in Russia playing for Spartak Moscow before moving to Spanish side Sevilla in 2018 for a season then landing back at his boyhood club Ajax in the Netherlands. It was there when his real life came forward following a stabbing incident in 2020 and a cocaine trafficking charge in 2021. The Dutch star had just made his national team debut and UEFA Euro 2020 debut as well when his world came crashing down.

Promes was found guilty of aggravated assault for stabbing his cousin in 2023 as well as having to pay his cousin €7,000 as well as serving an 18-month sentence. Yet he hasn’t stepped foot into prison as he fled back to Russia where he was signed by Spartak Moscow again where he continued his playing career seemingly avoiding any punishment and scoring 35 goals in 77 appearances. His cocaine charges somehow topped the stabbing in the headlines of newspapers as he reportedly had a hand in smuggling 1,360kg of cocaine in two shipments from Belgium to the Netherlands in 2020. He was charged with a six-year prison sentence on top of the 18-month sentence he already had.

His latest escapades found him arrested in Dubai as Spartak Mosco was in the UAE for a preseason training trip where he fled a car accident. The Dutch authorities requested his extradition however the UAE did not honor the request. Promes was seen playing in an amateur local tournament in Dubai for a company’s team where he led them to victory as the top goal scorer. He then signed a new contract with FC Dubai United where he still plays now. Promes has not only dodged any punishment for years now but has also found ways to upgrade his lifestyle. He may not be the first criminal in sport, but he may be the best as he shows no signs of returning to his homeland and even less signs of ever changing his ways.