Bellamy and Beckham

Thursday, February 7, 2013 (Day 29)
Makeni

My good friend Graham Foster sent me the scanned copy of the feature about Craig Bellamy you can see above this blog. He spotted it in yesterday’s copy of Metro. Great to see Bellamy getting some acknowledgement but, more importantly, it was more positive media coverage for the CBF league here in Sierra Leone. 
The irony of this story is that David Beckham, who is mentioned, has also helped in Sierra Leone and even stayed overnight in Makeni, where I am currently living. I know that many African players who have made it big abroad are trying to ‘give something back’ back home. 
Let us hope that more professional footballers follow the examples of the likes of Bellamy and Beckham instead of wasting their riches on gambling and fast cars. Personally, I think super rich and connected FIFA and UEFA should also be doing more to work with projects that encourage education and development through football. More than 2,500 kids are benefiting from the work of the Craig Bellamy Foundation here in Sierra Leone. Imagine how many hundreds of thousands of kids around the world could benefit if FIFA were to mimic this project right across the developing world.