Michael Mols could have played the diplomatic game and refused to answer questions connecting the charity work he is looking to promote with the greed within football that has been exposed this week costing the England manager his job.
Instead the former Rangers striker seized upon the opportunity to highlight the need for more of those involved in a sport that has lost its sense of perspective in terms of earnings, to take stock and realise what is important.
He had just watched a presentation put on by UNICEF, having returned to Ibrox to announce the global initiative between the child protection organisation and the Rangers Charity Foundation that he has agreed to champion and was clearly shocked.
The agreement follows on from three similar previous initiatives which, during the past eight years, have helped children in West Africa and India as well as funding a million vaccines for children around the world, with UNICEF’s spokesperson Lucinda Rivers explaining:
“Earlier this year we reached our target of raising £300,000 to vaccinate a million children against diseases that are deadly for them but that are preventable. This a really long standing partnership, the longest one UNICEF UK has and certainly the longest here in Scotland.
“We all see things like the Syria crisis, but there are another 60 or so emergencies happening right now where children are facing malnutrition or lack of water or disease. It’s difficult to raise money for children when the emergencies aren’t attracting media interest. That’s what the children’s emergency fund is for and we are really grateful to Rangers for their support.”
Placed in that context, when asked how these efforts should be viewed alongside the revelation that Allardyce – the highest paid manager in international football - had been ready, through dubious means, to accept an additional sum of money that would be sufficient to vaccinate more than another million children, Mols immediately accepted that there is a disconnect between such harsh realities and the behaviour of too many of those involved in a sport that now produces multi-millionaires on an industrial scale.
“I’m also a father and I just had a presentation from UNICEF about what they are doing and then you see some footage of the kids and it’s really heart-breaking,” said the Dutchman.
“Looking at the information they gave me it will take a very long time to solve it, so there’s a long way to go, but every bit will help and I think Rangers are trying to do their bit too, not only in Scotland but with the UNICEF partnership they also show their responsibility worldwide.”
He suggested that people like Allardyce needed to be reminded of the true importance and value of money adding that the shamed former England boss ought to consider donating to charities like UNICEF.
Invited to elaborate on that his observation that ‘it’s a crazy world’ will chime with the vast majority, if not necessarily the agents and promoters who believe they are justified in demanding any amount of money that the market can stand on behalf of their clients.
“It’s hard to think of a more powerful cause for the Rangers Charity Foundation to support and I am honoured to be championing this partnership on behalf of the Foundation and doing whatever I can to raise awareness and funds,” said Mols.
This might just be the perfect time for him to use his contacts to get round a few dressing rooms, board rooms and, in particular, manager’s offices to propose a whip round.
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