Mols refuses to play the diplomatic role when it comes to Allardyce
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 most recently cost the England manager his job.
Instead, the former Rangers striker seized upon the opportunity.
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 that, 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.
UNICEF’s spokeswoman Lucinda Rivers explained: “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 longstanding 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 – who was handed a salary of £3 million – 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 heartbreaking,” 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 his remarks, Mols’s observation that “it’s a crazy world” will chime with the vast majority interested in the game, if not necessarily those who stand to benefit the most from their justification of demanding any amount of money the market can stand when it comes to commercial deals.