Photo by: Glenn Harper / CC-BY-SA

7 Football Do-gooders

Photo by: Ben Tavener / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

UNAIDS international goodwill ambassador The Brazilian central defender promotes #ZeroDiscrimination, a campaign urging people to celebrate everyone's right to live a full life with dignity regardless of physical attributes, nationality and "whom they love."

Photo by: Amarhgil / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

UNDP goodwill ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals The Spanish football team captain has appeared in several videos focused on youth issues and inequalities in Latin America. He also uses his Facebook page to promote major activities of the U.N. Development Program.

Photo by: Christopher Johnson / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

UNICEF international goodwill ambassador The Argentine football team captain has been involved in UNICEF's advocacy and fundraising efforts for a decade now. His foundation aims to help vulnerable children in Argentina and Spain gain access to education and health care.

Photo by: Ludovic Peron / CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

Save the Children global artist ambassador The Real Madrid superstar actively supports the fight against child hunger and obesity and promotes physical activity and healthy eating as part of Save the Children's Hunger and Livelihoods Program.

Photo by: Puma / CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

The first black player on the Italian football squad has contributed the fee he received for starring in a TV commercial and print campaign toward a secondary school in Cuey Machar, Sudan. He is also donating his earnings from the sales of a children's book portraying him as a hero to Médecins Sans Frontières.

Photo by: Joscarfas / CC-BY-NC-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

SOS Children’s Villages ambassador The English striker actively supported 6 Villages for 2006, a joint campaign by SOS Children’s Villages and FIFA to raise funds that would give orphaned and abandoned children worldwide a new family home.

Photo by: Rayand/ CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY

UNDP goodwill ambassador The Ivorian football captain has worked with several aid groups to mobilize support for poverty eradication. His foundation funds health and education initiatives benefitting Africans.

Photo by: Glenn Harper / CC-BY-SA

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