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Our first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, has once again been proven right, this time by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, when he said that sport had the power to unite people.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand,” the great statesman once said.
As the novel coronavirus continues to rapidly spread around the world, a growing number of sport stars and teams have donated millions of dollars to help medical workers and hospitals fight the global pandemic.
They have joined hands to contribute towards helping those in dire need of urgent help, as well as those on the front line. For this, I say big ups to them!
Superstar tennis player Roger Federer wrote on his Twitter and Instagram accounts: “These are challenging times for everyone and nobody should be left behind.
"Our contribution is just a start. We hope that others might join in supporting more families in need. Together, we can overcome this crisis.”
Footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have reportedly each donated €1 million (R20 million) to the cause.
Messi’s donation went to Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, where it is being used to both treat the victims of the pandemic and fund research into the virus.
Portugal and Juventus forward Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes jointly donated life-saving equipment to Portuguese hospitals in Lisbon and Porto.
In Pakistan, former cricket captain Shahid Afridi and his charity are distributing food supplies, disinfectant soap and other essentials to groups who need them, and Brazil’s top football clubs are handing over their stadiums for health authorities to turn them into field hospitals and clinics to fight the pandemic.
Another player who has led by example is Ivorian international Wilfried Zaha, who is the co-owner of about 50 properties in London. He usually rents these out to short-term business travellers, but has made the properties available for medical workers who need a place to sleep after their shifts.
Read: Football finds its charitable side
Birmingham City captain Harlee Dean told the club that he would take a 50% pay cut for the rest of the season.
“Some people can help and some people can’t help; it’s just the nature of the beast,” he said.
“For me, me not doing it ... and somebody in the club I know who works in admin or something like that, if they got laid off for the sake of me not doing it, that doesn’t really sit well with me.”
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of our local heroes – our federations and stars have not come to the party as yet.
The question is: Where are South African sport stars when their country needs them the most? They are nowhere to be found. Perhaps this is an indication of how “poor” our stars are.
I’d have expected some of the club owners, rugby clubs, cricket franchises and players from different walks of life to have raised their hands by contributing something to the Solidarity Fund that was set up by government to help the country.
In many instances, most of them flash their riches around, but they are suddenly nowhere to be found when they should be leading by example in a time of need.
If anything, the 21-day lockdown has helped them to go into hibernation.
This is when the saying “every man for himself and God for us all” holds true.
Or perhaps this is an indication of where they find themselves? Perhaps there are underlying challenges that prohibit them from coming to the party. Maybe things are not as rosy as we think they are for them. I know many football clubs can barely survive without the monthly grant from the PSL.
This is, unfortunately, the sad state of affairs in local football.
Will our players agree to take pay cuts like most European clubs are doing? Never!
I doubt if they would even entertain that thought – and they would most likely go to any lengths to fight such a proposal if it were put forward.
The reality is that most of us, players included, live from hand to mouth.
We don’t save for rainy days. That’s a fact.
But, if anything, I hope this pandemic calls for a shift in our thinking. It should be a lesson to all of us to start saving because we don’t know what the future holds. Most of us can’t go a month without a salary, and this is unacceptable. The virus has proven that we are no longer living a normal life and the sooner we adapt, the better for all of us.
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