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What did you spend your Monday working on? For Didier Drogba, the answer to that question is fairly impressive, as I imagine it would be for most of his days. The Chelsea striker turned up in Windhoek, Namibia, as part of a promotional tour with Windhoek Lager, which he turned into a press conference to encourage young footballers (and young everyone elses) not to skimp on investing in themselves:
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.
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.
-Source: All Africa.
Drogba is speaking from experience, of course, and even from the outside you hear some really sad stories of fortunes squandered, of young athletes being taken advantage of, of huge earnings turning into nothing thanks to the machinations of the predators who look to hoover up as much money as possible. Footballers might be massively overpaid compared to the rest of the world, but they can be shockingly uneducated and swiftly parted from their riches, which leaves them with nothing.
And that's only the ones who make it. Breaking into the top level where you can earn serious money is by no means a guarantee, and compromising your education on a bet to get into football is not a particularly clever move. Drogba is a powerful influence over young men, especially in Africa, and having him speak on the subject might just help, even if it is only a little bit.
Good work, Didier.