Russian to buy octopus Pau,l hire
him as a bookmaker

A Russian betting firm wants to buy soothsaying World Cup octopus Paul and hire him as a bookmaker with a salary of 5,000 dollars a month.

 

"He will be one of our 120 staff employees," Oleg Zhuravsky, co-owner of Bet League, told Soviet Sport newspaper.

 

Zhuravsky added: "Our specialists receive around 3,000 dollars a month. So we will pay Paul 5,000."

 

Paul earned superstar status by correctly predicting the results of all of Germany's games, including its semi-final defeat to Spain. He also was right in forecasting Spain's victory in the final.

 

Zhuravsky said he was ready to pay the Sea Life oceanarium attraction in the German city of Oberhausen, where the eight-legged oracle lives, as much as 100,000 euros.

 

Zhuravsky's company is set to sign an exclusive agreement with the Russian Premier League in the near future.

 

Under the deal, 50 percent of the bookmaking company's profits will be earmarked for the development of football in the country