Leon Goretzka (25), a player from Bayern Munich and Die Mannschaft, has become a great example, not only as a leader, but also because he is one of the few players who takes a position on issues that affect our society.
I will start talking about an issue that unfortunately has been constant in football, racism. One of the most recent cases of racism happened in the Die Mannschaft, during a match against Serbia, in which some fans were extremely offensive against Leroy Sané (24) and İlkay Gündogan (29). Two days after the incident, Goretzka spoke at a press conference, saying that these people should be punished for such an act, he described that at the moment no one stood up against these people, and he asked supporters to stand up with courage.
Since then, Leon has been using his voice several times to raise awareness of intolerance and racism. According to him, it is up to everyone to ensure that the most abominable chapter in history — Nazism — does not repeat itself. And that involves not turning a blind eye to racist incidents, and ensuring that criminals are isolated and punished according to the law.
It is essential to say that Leon Goretzka goes well beyond the 90 minutes, he uses football as a backdrop to discuss social issues, this is remarkable, when he himself used his networks to support the #MissingType blood donation campaign, or when he also supported the #NieWieder campaign so that people would never forget the atrocities caused by Nazism. Goretzka has become a role model for many human beings.
“I think being a role model means that as professional sportsmen, we should be aware that people sometimes take what we say or do to heart. We can reach people. By that I don’t mean that we don’t like driving nice cars, for example — I do and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s about conveying certain values, though. It doesn’t hurt now and again to ask how you can contribute to society. I think, as athletes, we can use channels that others don’t have to make a difference.” — Leon Goretzka to FC Bayern
Currently, we are dealing with the covid-19 pandemic, it has been difficult times for everyone and even with so many difficulties, Leon Goretzka and his teammate, Joshua Kimmich, created a “WeKickCorona” campaign, all the money raised will go to institutions. charities and doctors who help those in need or affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, together the two donated about 1 million euros, and in three days managed to raise 3 million euros with 27 players and 500 individual donors.
To finish, I hope that this text will reflect on how important it is to have players who use their voice to do good things, not only them but the whole society.
“I would like to encourage everyone to raise their voices, if you know how to classify possible hostility, you can handle it very well.” — Leon Goretzka
Twitter: @GoretzkaStuff
