Robin Gosens supports social project in Zambia
Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka received honorary award for “WeKickCorona”
Berlin, 09.12.2020
While Anja Zivkovic followed Jürgen Klopp and became German Football Ambassador 2020 last week, Robin Gosens (Public Award) as well as Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka (Honorary Award) now also received their awards from the non-profit organisation of the same name. The awards, which were presented to the winners in previous years at a gala at the Federal Foreign Office, could unfortunately not be presented in person this year due to the corona pandemic.
Roland Bischof, founder of the Association German Football Ambassador: “We would have liked to present the awards again this year together with the German Foreign Minister, but unfortunately Corona made it impossible. I thank the worthy winners – they had the greatest understanding for our decision to improvise because of Corona.”
Source: ©Robin Gosens
Robin Gosens: with great goals and commitment
Robin Gosens, who experienced the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in the Italian epicentre of Bergamo in all its intensity, was already voted by football fans in an online voting a few months ago as the winner of the Public Award and thus the follow-up to Marc-André ter Stegen. The fans not only honoured his extremely successful performances on the pitch, which allowed him to celebrate historic achievements for the city with Atalanta Bergamo, but also his modest and helpful behaviour off the pitch.
He currently stands out as one of the German national players with the most unusual career, which he spent abroad (Italy, Netherlands) almost from the very beginning as an ambassador of German football. When he had to choose between the national teams of the Netherlands and Germany, he chose the German national team, for which he made his successful debut in September 2020.
In addition, he is also very engaged beside the pitch and decided to use his prize money for a social project in Zambia, which he would like to visit personally after Corona.
Robin Gosens: “I am gigantically happy about this award because it comes from the football fans. I am giving my prize money to a project of the children’s aid organisation Plan International in Zambia, where I am already involved. Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me; it means incredibly much to me.”
Maike Röttger, CEO of Plan International: “It is really nice to see Robin Gosens’ sincere interest in supporting children in the field of sustainability. We are very pleased with him and are delighted with his award.”
Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka: the initiators of #WEKICKCORONA
The honorary award was conferred on Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka by the top-class expert jury members Doris Fitschen, Rainer Holzschuh (chair), Horst Hrubesch, Lutz Pfannenstiel, Dr. Martin Schäfer and Berti Vogts. Both players were honoured in recognition of the commitment of numerous football players* in times of the Corona crisis. As initiators of the project, which has already collected more than 5 million euros for social purposes, they were delighted about the award and promised to continue helping.
Joshua Kimmich: “It is special to be awarded for something that is not directly related to football and one’s own performance. We are happy and grateful to be able to continue to help with #WeKickCorona in this difficult phase, on behalf of all those who have joined us and confided in us.”
Source ©FCB: Video acknowledgement (0:17 min.) – https://youtu.be/cj4bw5f5vyA
Source: ©FCB
Joshua Kimmich, who is unfortunately injured at the moment, and Leon Goretzka are not only convincing on the pitch for Bayern Munich and the national team, but with their initiative they are also sending a strong signal in terms of social responsibility. Following the jury’s decision in May to name them as winners of the Honorary Award, further awards for their commitment followed from many other sides. After several postponements of the award ceremony due to Corona, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka were happy to finally be able to hold their well-deserved award in their hands.
Bayern Munich’s Chairman of the Board Karl-Heinz Rummenigge may also be proud of the commitment of his professionals – as he himself is a member of the advisory board of the non-profit-making association German Football Ambassador (Deutscher Fußball Botschafter e.V.) and thus supports the good idea of honouring the exemplary conduct of German coaches and players who, like Bayern Munich, contribute to the positive image of (football) Germany in the world.
