The pampered millionaire football stars should learn how to spend from and remain grounded from Chelsea player Salomon Kalou, who regularly sends money home to help poor in his country, Ivory Coast.
|Last Updated: Aug 30, 2009, 05:55 PM IST|Source: Bureau
London: The pampered millionaire football stars should learn how to spend from and remain grounded from Chelsea player Salomon Kalou, who regularly sends money home to help poor in his country, Ivory Coast.
The Young African Player of the Year’s wages may have increased by 900,000 per cent since he signed for Chelsea from Feyenoord. But the generous 24-year-old is still giving large chunks of his money away.
He splashed out 45,000 pounds to buy his mum a brand new BMW X5 and another 45,000 pounds on an X6 for his dad.
He regularly sends money home to his family, who now live in a bigger five-bedroom house.He is setting up the Salomon Kalou Foundation to raise money for the poor in Africa and is planning to distribute 1,000 sandals to the needy in his homeland.
Other projects include opening a public football pitch in his name in Rotterdam next month and a similar one in the Ivory Coast in time for the World Cup finals, News of the World reported.
He has donated money to the families of the victims of the Abidjan Stadium tragedy, in which 19 people died and more than 130 were injured when a wall collapsed during the Ivory Coast’s 5-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Malawi five months ago.
And he has promised he and his Ivory Coast teammates will also donate their bonuses if they qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Not your typical overpaid, overhyped, Premier League footballer, then.
“It is the way I have been raised,” he insisted. “I shared my money when I was earning 5 pounds a month and I am still doing it although I earn a lot more now!”
“I am blessed. My goal is to give back to people who don’t have anything, who need help. If I have two things I can give one away.”
He doesn’t drink or smoke. So he even gave away the bottle of champagne Prince Harry bought him at his 24th birthday party earlier this month.
Kalou now has his own five-bedroom house near Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, Surrey, the car, the adulation of the fans and has just launched his very own Stay Fly clothing label.
But he didn’t buy his first mobile phone until he signed for Feyenoord and he still sleeps on the floor when he goes back home.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.