WINDHOEK – Despite being one of Africa’s top earning footballers, Ivorian legend Didier Drogba insist he is not entirely convinced football earnings are enough sustain them and says education is the only lasting solution to any footballers life once their careers are over.
Drogba, who is in the country on a Windhoek Lager Promotional tour, was speaking at a brief press conference in the capital yesterday where he encouraged aspiring footballers to strike a good balance between their education and careers as footballers.
“The money we earn as footballers is not enough to sustain you for the rest of your life because football is just a career that can only go as far as your body can allow, so once that time comes you have to fall back on something and that something should be education,” said the former African Footballer of the Year.
“If you don’t have an education as a footballer, how will you even negotiate your contracts or interact with people as different platforms. I’m saying so because today I’m here sitting in front of you expressing myself without any difficulties, I’m always part and parcel of negotiating my own contacts and various agreements such this one of Windhoek Lager. I’ m also involved with many other organisations and it’s all thanks to education,”
Drogba is not just an advocator for better education, but has over the years worked so hard and financially contributed to various sectors of his country with the aim of improving the lives of his fellow countrymen through building clinics and schools. The Chelsea marksman has also contributed to many charity organisations in countries like Senegal, Niger amongst others through the Didier Drogba Foundation.
Drogba is widely credited for having played a vital role in bringing peace to his country. After Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup, Drogba made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease-fire after five years of civil war.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) later appointed him as a Goodwill Ambassador after the UNDP was impressed with his previous charity work and believed that his high profile would help raise awareness on African issues.
His involvement in the peace process and untiring charity work led to Drogba being named as one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time Magazine for 2010.