Offside? 5 soccer players who could not get to politics

Listen this article

We have talked about those players who have dabbled in politics and hold important positions, but what about those who lose?

It is common that several athletes decide to venture into the world of politics, whether for interest, connections or to try new fields after being withdrawn from the sport. Although there are cases where former soccer players manage to obtain seats, mayorships or even the presidency; there are others who, despite trying, could not achieve it. Here in LatinAmerican Post we tell you more about them.

Leer en español: ¿Fuera de lugar? 5 futbolistas que no pudieron llegar a la política

1. José Daniel 'Loro' Morón

The Argentinian former goalkeeper, nationalized Chilean, played for the Colo-Colo of Chile, in which he was a national champion in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993. In 1991, the Argentinian was crowned champion of the Copa Libertadores de América with the team. He retired in 1998 and since then he has developed several projects.

Morón decided to try his luck in politics in 2016, when he was well-known in the community of Frutillar, a city in southern Chile. At that time, the Partido por la Democracia (PPD) endorsed his candidacy for municipal elections and given his closeness to the community it was thought he could hold a position. However, Morón got 31 votes, around 0.39%.

He is currently the representative of the Social and Sports Club Colo-Colo. Until a few weeks ago, Morón seemed like an option to join the team of Chilean coaches, as goalkeeper coach, headed by Reinaldo Rueda, "after the departure of Alex Whiteley", as stated by ADN Radio, however, the Argentine Néstor Lo Tártaro was the one selected to complete the Colombian team.

2. Hugo de León

The former Uruguayan player worked as a defender in important teams such as Nacional de Uruguay and Gremio de Brasil; he started his career in 1977 and retired in 1993. Together with these two teams he managed a pair of Uruguayan Championships, an Intercontinental Cup and a Copa Libertadores.

His incursion into the world of politics was in 2009 under the Partido Colorado. As stated by La Red 21, at that time the role of Leon was militant and attractive for the Uruguayans to vote for the party. According to the same means, Leon "had no interest in running for office and much less in being in charge of a group of that community."

Soon after, the party announced that Leon would be Pedro Bordaberry's vice-presidential ticket in the presidential elections of 2009. The duo came in third with 392,307 votes, behind José Mujica and Luis Alberto Lacalle.

Perhaps you will read: Did you know that these 3 lawyers have saved several famous footballers?

3. Jorge Roberto Ruiz Esparza

The Mexican defender began his career in soccer at the Puebla FC club in 1984, in which he played for 15 years. In 2011 he decided to retire in the same team with which he started his soccer career.

He began his political career in the Partido Acción Nacional, under which he was elected deputy in Puebla from 2003 to 2006. In the state elections of Puebla, he was presented as a candidate to the city council of that state, under the Nueva Alianza party, after he resigned his initial party. In the elections, he received 22,747 votes, around 5.13%.

4. Oleguer Presas

The former Catalan soccer player, who was part of Barcelona and after Ajax, was always very close to his political convictions. Since he was in Barcelona between 2004 and 2008. Presas never hid "that he feels Catalan above all else, that he would like independence for his 'country' and that he does not feel any kind of bond, affinity or affection for Spain", according to El Confidencial.

After finishing his soccer career in 2011, he became an active member of the Popular Unity Candidature Party (CUP) and, in 2012, he was in the elections to the Parlament de Catalunya, where he was not elected. In 2015 and 2017, he also showed up, but he could not get a seat either.

5. Andriy Shevchenko

The current coach of the Ukrainian National Team played as a striker in important clubs such as AC Milan, Chelsea FC, and Dinamo Kiev. He has also taken charge of taking his team to the only world cup they have participated in. In addition to being the top scorer, he was awarded the Golden Ball in 2004.

After 18 years of soccer career, in 2012 he decided to announce his retirement from the sport to venture into the world of politics. At the time, Shevchenko said that "I'm probably going to surprise everyone. My future will no longer be linked to soccer, it will be linked to politics. I want to share my experience in Europe and do something for my country. I hope I can count on your support," according to AS.

Shevchenko joined the Ukraine Forward! party and, in the legislative elections of October 28, 2012, he obtained 1.7% of the votes. According to Pelota Afuera, "he did not even reach the 5% needed to add a bank in the Rada. He did not reach the million dollars that Shevchenko himself contributed to the campaign."

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
Translated from "¿Fuera de lugar? 5 futbolistas que no pudieron llegar a la política"