Didier Drogba shows that decency does still exist in the modern game
Drogba off field work negates his bad boy image
When Premier League footballers find themselves off the back page in the news it is usually for something less than favourable. Stumbling drunk out of nightclubs, scandalous expose by past flings and court appearance are just some of things players like Joey Barton, Lee Bowyer and Jermain Pennant have found themselves hitting the headlines for. Famously Pennant even became the first footballer to play whilst on police tag!
So today when it was revealed Chelsea forward Didier Drogba would be donating his £3m bonus fee for becoming the face of Pepsi, in order to build a hospital in his native Ivory Coast, it was a breath of fresh air. What is even more remarkable is the fact his boss and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich may even match his donation pound for pound thus potentially taking the donation from £3m to £6m.
Drogba, who unleashed a four letter tirade live on TV after Chelsea crashed out of last season’s Champions League, is more known for his bad boy antics on field so this move may come as a shock to some, yet it is just the latest in a line of charitable works for the Ivoirian. In 2007 he was appointed a UN ambassador along with Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane charged with the task of reducing poverty.
It was a job he took seriously and after a close friend died of Leukaemia he started the Didier Drogba Foundation, with the aim ‘to build and fund a hospital giving people basic healthcare and a chance just to stay alive’. He has raised millions already, with a planned fund raiser in London later this month already sold out, so this £3m should set him well on his way to his target of having the hospital open by 2010.
Drogba isn’t the only footballer with a bad boy image that has done charity work, in 2007 Craig Bellamy, who once attacked a team mate with a golf club teamed up with UNICEF to set up the Craig Bellamy foundation in Sierra Leone where using football the project aims to develop positive personal as well as social skills of the country’s under priviledged youths.
Both Drogba and Bellamy are known for their brash personalities on field and this somehow overshadows their work off field. But if they are striving to make the world a better place then maybe their on field faults may soon be forgotten.
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I often hear of the bigger name African players donating to charity or creating a football school back in their home country. It’s as if they’re trying to help eradicate the poverty they grew up with by helping out and it’s nice to see that footballers can be so selfless. If only the bigger name Englishmen would do something similar!
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Mr. Kanu has NGO for weak heart kids in Nigeria. Several kids lemme thousands of them are hail and hearty thanks to Mr. Kanu foundation. Mr. Kanu foundation make that for every trips abroad, a kid must go with his/her parents, so that they will feel lonely during and after the operation.
Am so proud of them.
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Am sorry for my typos..
Mr. Kanu has NGO for weak heart kids in Nigeria. Several kids lemme say thousands of them are hail and hearty thanks to Mr. Kanu foundation. Mr. Kanu foundation make that for every trips abroad, a kid must go with his/her parents, so that they will not feel lonely during and after the operation.
Am so proud of them.
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Comparing Drogba with Bellamy is both ridiculous and again a poor poor piece of writing, drogba has never had a bad boy image, Bellamy is a thug and drogba is a bit of a drama queen so get your facts right…Mug
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I think Drogba was vilified after his outburst against Barca and was painted in a very negative light in the media.
Thanks for your input though, hopefully my next article will be to your liking.
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