By the way...

Second careers

In the latest edition of his column "Oh, by the way...", "Krone Vorarlberg" author Harald Petermichl looks at the career after the career of soccer heroes. Right at the top of the popularity rankings: the job as a TV pundit. Sometimes annoying for the TV audience, but always better than ex-footballers who switch to politics.

Former professional footballers have one or two opportunities to indulge in new occupations after their careers have come to an end so that they are not suddenly on the welfare state's back. Some, such as Roman Mählich or Lothar Matthäus, now earn their living as so-called television pundits, often talking astonishingly stupid things. Recently, they almost got a prominent addition in the form of Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder, who seriously wanted to act as a co-commentator for a German sports channel for the second division match between Nuremberg and Braunschweig shortly before Christmas, but then nothing came of it due to the current events in Magdeburg. Well, the self-confessed "Glubberer" fan will find other opportunities for strange campaign appearances, so we shouldn't worry about that.

Speaking of politics: although it doesn't happen every day, it has already happened that ball artists seek and find their way into big politics after their active time. George Weah immediately springs to mind, as the former FIFA World Player of the Year, who also won the Ballon d'Or, and founder of the Congress for Democratic Change party was President of the Republic of Liberia from 2017 to 2023. This happens more often in Brazil and Romário, also a FIFA World Player of the Year, sat in the Brazilian Congress for several years. It goes without saying that the great Pelé was his country's sports minister. Ronaldinho, on the other hand, only publicly supported the insane Jair Bolsonaro, but fortunately never sought to enter politics himself.

The pro-Russian former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili is the new president of Georgia.(Bild: AP)

Stupid move
Everyone is currently talking about a former goal scorer who played for almost half of all clubs in the Swiss first division at the start of the millennium. Depending on how you spell it, the young man's name is either Mikheil Kavelashvili or Mikheil Qavelashvili. He took office as President of Georgia a week ago and, together with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, is a staunchly pro-Russian and (to put it very euphemistically) EU-sceptic. The two are still unimpressed by the ever-growing protests among the population. You might find yourself thinking that the 46-time international would perhaps have been better off becoming president of the soccer association, but unlike the office of president, he would have needed an academic degree for that. It went badly.