In a study by the US-based Reputation Institute last year, Roger Federer was named second on a list of the world’s most respected people. Behind him was Bill Gates (third), ahead of him only Nelson Mandela. It is fair to say the Swiss tennis star has a reputation to maintain.
With that in mind, there is a lot riding on the Roger Federer Foundation (RFF), which partners local non-governmental organizations to support education projects for children living in poverty.
Many find it unthinkable that a high-profile sportsman like Federer would pursue such a project for reasons other than PR, or to maximize sponsorship returns. Yet, as the world’s fifth highest paid athlete he seems beyond such concerns. If anything, says the foundation’s CEO, Janine Handel, Federer’s altruism potentially jeopardizes the very thing that puts him in a position to make a difference in the first place — his standing.
“If you do charity and you’re a prominent person, it’s very important you do it right,” she said. “It’s a reputational risk you are taking.”
Handel, in London for a debate about whether tennis does enough to help society, insisted what the world needs is not more money but better invested money.
“Philanthropy is not just about money, it’s about quality, how you invest in social issues, the impact you have in the field,” she said.
For 54,000 children in Malawi who will benefit from an early education initiative run by the RFF, that is good news. The project, which began in 2010 in partnership with Credit Suisse and is being implemented in conjunction with ActionAid Malawi, will run for a decade. Its aim is to harness the potential of 80 childcare centers in six districts, where almost 250,000 children aged six to 11 fail to enrol in school.
Personal experience tends to shape the philanthropic activities of tennis players — think Nevada-born Andre Agassi’s education foundation in Las Vegas, or the Guga Kuerten Institute, which works with disadvantaged children in the former world No. 1’s native Brazil — but a packed year-round schedule leaves few opportunities to visit developing countries. It does not help that so few tournaments are staged in poor countries.
“It comes down to what’s viable commercially, what fits in the calendar, and what the appetite for tennis is in a given region,” said Justin Gimelstob, a player representative on the ATP World Tour directors’ board, who described a visit to the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre in Soweto as “heartbreaking and inspiring.”
“How do you tie the facility in Soweto to the opulence of the US Open? How do you manage those opposite forces?” he asked.
In the absence of easy answers, the ATP is focusing on supporting the efforts of individual players, which only adds to the importance of organizations like the RFF.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS