Every player aspires to win matches and ultimately trophies, but they are even more appreciated for their humanitarianism
There’s always the odd unconscious inclination to give football players stick after every misdemeanour, however slight, a reflection, perhaps of their privileged lifestyle and considerable incomes.
Every off-field misconduct tends to be exacerbated, and the accompanying opprobrium borders on excessive in most cases.
Given their already high wages, perhaps observers expect some sort of faux humility and a sole focus on football…after all, the principal goal is to compete for and win trophies at the highest level.
Over the years, footballers have been seen as highly-rewarded millionaires who are beyond inconsiderate and self-serving, but that perception has been changing of late and African stars have helped to change that sentiment.
Make no mistake, giving back to the community isn’t obligatory and players have a right to commit their finances into what they please. They retain autonomy over their income and shouldn’t be pressured into humanitarian acts even in the face of outside pressure.
Sadio Mane's hospital in Senegal has been commissioned today🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/yO59aGwZja
— GOAL Africa (@GOALAfrica) June 20, 2021
Having said that, giving back voluntarily is often cheered given the smiles it brings to people’s faces.
African players are especially praised owing to the ‘grass to grace’ paths many of them walked. There’s a recognition that they understand the struggles of those at home and their now-privileged position allows them to solve or, at least, help to solve challenges as best they can.
Current African Footballer of the Year, Sadio Mane, recently donated $693,000 (£500,000) to help fund a hospital in his hometown of Bambali. It’ll be the first of its kind in the village, 400 kilometres outside Dakar, which previously lacked a clinic.
“The Liverpool striker has presented the Head of State with an ambitious plan to build a hospital in Bambali and is counting on state support for medical personnel,” the official account for the presidency tweeted in June.
This isn’t a one-off for the Reds star, who posted a follow-up tweet, having contributed close to $350,000 (£250,000) to build a school in Bambali in 2019. Such generosity isn’t lost on anyone, and Mane’s indelible acts will leave a lasting impression.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, via Football Italia, Kalidou Koulibaly marked his 30th birthday by giving two ambulances, as well as numerous stretchers, hospital gowns, personal protective equipment and thousands of protective masks to hospitals in his home nation.
Previously, Didier Drogba’s inspiring work off the pitch even saw him named as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010 by Time magazine. He’d been appointed United Nations Development Programme as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2007 and his off-field efforts haven’t stopped since.
Retirement hasn’t slowed down the former Ivory Coast captain — whose impassioned plea played a part in ending a prolonged civil war in his nation in the 2000s — and was rewarded by UEFA in September 2020 for his ‘commitment to excellence on and off the pitch’.
The Chelsea legend’s charity work is near endless and includes a £3 million donation for the construction of a hospital in Abidjan in 2009 intended to give people “basic healthcare and a chance just to stay alive” and a £400,000 contribution through the Didier Drogba Foundation in 2015 after giving out all his commercial earnings to charity.
Past and present Nigerian stars aren’t left out, with Nwankwo Kanu and Mikel John Obi playing their part.
The ex-Arsenal man’s desire to impact lives was borne from a heart defect that threatened his life and career in 1996.
“What I went through after my transfer to Inter made me stronger,” Kanu told The Guardian in 2018. “There is no bigger test than when you are in between life and death so, if you can come up from there, you can handle anything. It gave me that push to go out and do whatever I had to do.”
This motivated the two-time African Footballer of the Year to set up the Kanu Heart Foundation, which has saved a plethora of lives since it was set up.
Despite a recent ill-judged visit to Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, Mikel’s charity work has also touched lives in the West African nation.
The former Chelsea midfielder set up a foundation in his name in 2012 ‘to get people back on their feet, and hopefully raise the aspirations of the affected people’.
“I grew up in Jos. It wasn’t easy for me as a kid, and to watch people going through a tougher situation now is just unbearable,” Mikel told BBC Sport in 2012. “Some people have been very lucky, but some are not, so it will be to get them to do something positive after these setbacks. I intend to make this a lifetime thing if it achieves its purpose.”
He later set up the Mikel Obi Foundation to unearth talent across the nation.
“Home is where it all started for me. I will always want to give back to Nigeria, my community and that is why I am doing this,” said Mikel at the launch in 2018. “This is the time to do this for the kids and we are going to make sure we make this a success.”
Love them or loathe them, criticise their intermittent gaffes and tactless etiquette at times, but you can’t deny that Africa’s finest past and present have given back and continue to give back to the community.
While their on-pitch success will be unmistakable, their benevolence off it is more than worthy of acclaim.