"They're brilliant on the field, and off it too" - 5 footballers who do charity work

Mario Balotelli

Well, if you watch football, you would surely know this guy. He is one of the most comical footballers you would ever see. Be it throwing darts at a youth team player or driving into a women’s prison, he is one of the most entertaining footballers.

But sadly enough, he makes the headlines for all the wrong reasons than the ones that he should. His on-field gimmicks and his off the field allegations have attributed to him being labeled as a cheater and dirty. Well, some of this may be true but yet that is no warrant for him to carry on his head, such a reputation.

He donates nearly 50 % of his salary to the children in Africa. He regularly shows up at hospitals and trusts to spend time with disabled children. He is also believed to give sizeable amounts of money to the homeless when he sees them.

Having grown up in poverty and struggle, now that he has seen the better side of life, he is trying his level best to make sure that others do the same.

Michael Essien

A well-known and highly respected footballer in the premier League, he too is part of a list of people who had to undergo hardships and lot of suffering before making their name. Having come from Africa, he knows the state of life in those regions.

Thus, he sought out to do his best in making the world a better place to live for those children. It was when he opened The Michael Essien Foundation (MEF), an NGO. It aims to create opportunities for the young and talented who are not privileged enough to make it big. And it has been successful and brought a smile to many faces.

This is set up in the Awutu Breku area. Apart from this, he has also planned to bring up a scheme for farmers, build libraries for children, building clean toilets, teaching life skills to women and provide the people with clean drinking water.

Well, for a man who plies his trade in one of the biggest clubs in the world, this clearly shows his humble nature and his willingness to help.