FOR GORDON
Greed of English game is alien to charitable Mols
FOR Michael Mols, two very different pieces of video footage this week have conjured up starkly conflicting emotions.
The former Rangers and Holland striker was back at Ibrox yesterday to promote his former club’s extension of their charity partnership with UNICEF.
While in Glasgow, the humanitarian charity showed him moving clips of the plight facing children in war-torn Syria and 60 other emergency zones around the globe.
Thanks to the Rangers Charity Foundation raising £300,000, UNICEF has been able to vaccinate a million vulnerable kids against deadly diseases. A two-year extension to the partnership with Rangers will help many more children in need.
If Mols found it emotional watching football proving a force for good, however, it was with disgust that he watched the ‘greed’ of Sam Allardyce exposed this week.
Already pocketing £3million a year as manager of England, the disgraced 61-year-old sealed his departure after just 67 days in the post when he was caught negotiating a £400,000 deal with undercover journalists, offering them advice on how to circumvent the FA’s own transfer rules.
For Allardyce, the damage is done but Mols believes the beleaguered former Bolton boss could do worse in an awful week for the beautiful game than make a donation to UNICEF.
‘It’s a crazy world,’ said Mols. ‘I have to be honest, when I see footage on the television news of Syria it is terrible.
‘But when you see an actual presentation from UNICEF itself, and you hear the kids speaking about their situation, and what they miss from before the war or another disaster, it really touches you.
‘It really affects you. It is heartbreaking. You realise how good we have it here and that we need to help others. But when you see the footage of the manager (Sam Allardyce), it’s all about greed.
‘When there are all these headlines with Allardyce, I think it would be a good idea to show some UNICEF footage to let people see that money is not so important. If we see the environment where children are having to live, having to leave their homes and everything behind, it’s just really heartbreaking.
‘Maybe (Allardyce) needs to donate some money to charities like UNICEF.’
Now 45, Mols jetted back to Glasgow because he is keen to give something back to the club where he won two league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups between 1999 and 2004. ‘I try to help as much as possible,’ he said. ‘The club has always been good to me, so this is a way of showing my gratitude.
‘But I’m also a father, so it feels right to help UNICEF. They do a really good job but unfortunately the work they do is still necessary. ‘It’s going to take a very long time to solve all the problems in the world but every little bit helps.
‘It’s good that Rangers are trying to play their part.’
Michael Mols was speaking in his role as Rangers’ UNICEF partnership champion as the Rangers Charity Foundation announced the extension of their partnership with UNICEF for a further two years. The next phase of the partnership will see the Rangers Charity Foundation support UNICEF UK’s Children’s Emergency Fund.
“You realise how good we have it in this country”