The report When football is not everything

A slender man, wearing a white robe and a green sash around his neck, takes the stage located in the center of the Samuel Kanyon Two field of play on January 22, 2018. He places his hands on the desk and begins his inauguration speech as President of Liberia: “I promise you that public money will not end up in the pockets of high officials or leaders.” The words spoken are not those of an ordinary politician but those of the best African footballer of the 1990s, George Weah. The Liberian moved away from the media spotlights of the football world and entered politics, even more resplendent if possible. The way of Weah was also adopted by Romário Da Souza, Kakha kaladze Y Cuauhtémoc White. They all have a common denominator: football legends in their countries, they convinced the public through great performances and now, retired, they do it through rhetoric.

George Weah (Liberia, 1966)

George Weah entered politics in 2004 and he did so with an empty resume in this area. However, his cover letter was not at all negligible: first African footballer to win the Ballon d'Or in 1995, a player for Paris Saint Germain (1992-1995), and AC Milan (1995-1998) with whom he reached the zenith of his career after achieving two Scudettos. A dream trajectory for a man born in a neighborhood in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, called ClaraTown. The social context did not diminish his will to become a professional footballer nor did his zero experience in the world of politics prevent him from making a name for himself in the corridors of the Liberian Parliament. Although Weah's first attempt in 2005 was in vain: he founded the party “The Congress for Democratic Change” (CDC) and received a roll in the presidential elections against the candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became the first female president in all of Africa. Mister George did not give up and continued on his way until in 2014 Appointed Senator from Montserrado County (Monrovia). In 2017 he was presented with the great opportunity to opt for the presidential seat and this time he triumphed. With 61.5% of the votes, in December of that year he conquered the hearts of millions of Liberians, as he already did with the Lombard fans after his countless displays of physique and power on the San Siro lawn.. Weah vowed to end the wave of corruption that marred the last years of the outgoing government. The country was on the brink: Liberia's national and foreign debt was 850 million euros, according to the Liberian newspaper Daily Observer. To the economic collapse was added the whipping of two Ebola epidemics between 2014 and 2016. The saddened Liberians gave Weah the opportunity to excite them again, but not with the goals that one day put the country on a map but with far-reaching decisions that would change the course of a population of more than four million inhabitants. After two years in office, Weah's tenure is more in question than ever. In January 2020, a coalition of civil society organizations named Council of Patriots organized a demonstration calling for the president's resignation. Participants blamed Weah for not having resolved the economic crisis, nor for having created a court to try the war crimes that were perpetrated during the bloody civil war that Liberia suffered between 1989 and 2003.. It remains to be seen whether 'The Black Panther' will be able to shake off this wave of outrage in the same way it did with Hellas Verona on a sunny afternoon in 1996. He picked up the ball from his goalkeeper's area and traveled the entire field dodging one after another the rivals dressed in yellow to score an anthological goal. Slowly but surely. That has been the political journey of Mister George.

Romário Da Souza (Rio de Janeiro, 1966)

Romário Da Souza hung up his boots in 2008. He broke the 1,000 goal barrier, in his own words. A figure that left the Brazilian media puzzled because they were convinced that it was a number inflated by the player, who accounted for the many scored in unofficial matches. A cloud of doubts was generated around the feat, the same ones that arose when in 2010 Or Baixinho decided to make the leap into politics by joining as a deputy of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB). However, Romário solved the uncertainty with a stroke of the pen, as he did in the Clásico in 1994 by leaving Rafa Alkorta nailed with a cow's tail and scoring the goal of the goals. The goal was scored again in 2014: became the most voted senator in the history of the State of Rio de Janeiro. He received the support of five million cariocas outraged by the celebration of the World Cup in a country where education, public health and urban transport were collapsing. The World Cup was the perfect occasion to cover the deficiencies, but the preparations further increased the discontent: the cost of renovations and constructions soared well above what was originally budgeted (plus 10 billion euros in total), the waste in the 12 stadiums that were built when FIFA requested only eight. A breeding ground that the 1994 world champion was able to make profitable at the polls. In the rostrum of the Federal Senate of Brazil, Romário swore end corruption, as well as defend the sport Y the rights of the handicapped and mentally handicapped. A sector of the population with which Or Baixinho He is emotionally linked, as one of his six daughters suffers from Down syndrome. Three years after his electoral success, Romário announced his intention to run for the mayoralty of his beloved Rio de Janeiro. However, it was a feint and he withdrew at the last minute.

In 2017, he left the Brazilian Socialist Party to join the Brazilian formation Podemos, and a year later he proclaimed to the four winds that his name would appear on the ballots for the Government of the state of Rio de Janeiro. They were held in October 2018, however, the result was unfavorable: Romário finished fourth by collecting 8.70% of the votes. Beyond the outcome, the ex of the Vasco de Gama, Flamengo and Fluminense has maintained a fierce pulse with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), poisoned by corruption. José María Marín, former president of the CBF, was arrested as the leader of the plot and sentenced to four years in prison. The Brazilian Senate created an investigative commission on the corruption network and Romário was one of the committee's speakers. His experience on the case was related in a book entitled Un olho na bola, outro no cartola (One eye on the ball and one on the managers). The investigation uncovered that the CBF organized friendly matches with the sole objective of making money, that was going to end up in the pockets of the Brazilian leaders. Romário insisted on bringing down an elite of managers flawed and well off by money, and he succeeded. Self-assured and bombastic Or Baixinho he has made a name for himself in Brazilian politics as he did in soccer. His ambition has no ceiling. “Messi and Cristiano would win the Ballon d'Or,” he snapped in an interview with THE COUNTRY.

Kakhaber Kaladze (Georgia, 1978)

Kahka Kaladze walks to eleven meters, grabs the ball and drops it at the penalty spot. It was a warm May 2003 night at Old Trafford. Stage: the final of the Champions League. The Georgian defender missed the maximum penalty, but thanks to the grace of his goalkeeper Dida, who stopped everything that was thrown at him, AC Milan lifted their sixth European twist. Kaladze played the match with which any footballer who reaches the elite sighs, but for the former Milan that crucial duel came with 34 years. “The most important game of my life starts now. There are many more challenges in politics than in sport,” he said after retiring from Genoa in 2012. He untied his boots, adjusted his tie. and joined the ranks of the Georgian Dream coalition, led by the millionaire Bidzina Ivanichvili. The newly founded center-left party wanted to overthrow the establishment personified in the figure of Mikhail Saakashvili, then president of Georgia. The pulse fell on Ivanichvili's side in the 2012 parliamentary elections. After the plebiscite hangover, Kaladze was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy. He spent four years in office, but left it in 2017 to return to where it all began: Tbilisi. City in which he made a name for himself on the team of the Georgian capital, Dinamo Tbilissi, springboard to later access the Dynamo Kiev, in which it would be three years, and from there sign for the rossoneri in 2001. The third player with the most matches in the history of Georgia announced his candidacy for mayor of the metropolis on the banks of the Kurá River and attracted 51% of the votes thanks to an environmentalist electoral program. Kaladze promised to multiply the green spaces of the city with the construction of parks. The commitment, perseverance and competitive gene encouraged him to wear the bracelet of his selection on the grass, Under these pillars the image of a skillful politician has also been carved out who has once again conquered the Georgians, this time at the exit..

Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Mexico City, 1973)

After more than 20 years swelling his scoreboard with the club of his loves, Club America, and the Mexican elastic, the Cuau put an end to his football career in 2015 to begin a new stage in politics, that he himself defined as “dirty” in an interview with the ESPN network in 2018. However, his critical vision did not prevent him, three years before, formalize your candidacy for mayor of Cuernavaca, capital of the State of Morelos. His proposal was reverse the crime wave in which the city lived and put an end to the participation of the local government in the single command. A centralized police system based on the unification of the municipal and state police to guarantee unity of command. Cuauhtémoc's speech had a deep impact on Cuernavacenses, who chose him as the new councilor under the Social Democratic Party (PSD): gained an advantage of almost 10% over his pursuer. The victory at the polls was punctuated by the words of former mayor Manuel Martínez Garrigos, who accused Blanco of accepting half a million dollars from the PSD in exchange for a political career in training. Likewise, one of the party members corroborated what the former mayor said, only he lowered the figure to $ 400,000. A controversial political debut for a Cuauhtémoc used to dealing with sporting squabbles on the pitch. The legend of America became a torment for the Chivas de Guadalajara and not precisely because of their goals but for the brawls it caused in the derby in Mexico City. In 1999 he became involved with the midfielder Felipe de Jesus Robles and in 2003 he did it again with the defender Johnny garcia. The first received a punch and the second had better luck, as Cuau's threats came to nothing. A rebellion that he also displayed in the municipal office of Morelos after the accusations of his political enemies. The complaints reached the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), which decided to temporarily suspend Blanco from his duties, which in turn began a hunger strike in order to protest the court's decision in 2016. The tantrum took effect and the SCJN overturned his dismissal. Two years after the tumult, Cuauhtémoc became the governor of the State of Morelos with 53% of the votes, already separated from the PSD and enrolled in the ranks of the Social Encounter Party (PES). After the electoral victory, Blanco decided to give his new government the aroma of his past in green: Jose Manuel Sanz, his former representative in 2000, the year in which he signed for Real Valladolid, was assigned as head of the government office. Gilberto Alcala Pineda, former international referee, held the post of Secretary of Social Development. The Americanist touch could not be absent either, since German Villa, historical youth squad of the millionaires, was appointed State Director of the Sports Institute in July 2020. The incorporation of Villa was joined by Francisco Reyes, former press officer for America, as the new spokesman for the state government. An eleven of guarantees with which Cuauhtémoc hopes to continue his political journey.