Making the case for Kaka

On the pitch all the footballing news emerging from Brazil this week has been about the superb performances of their teams in the Copa Libertadores.  Santos’ victory against Cucuta of Columbia kept alive the possibility that they may post five representatives in the competition’s quarter finals.

Off the pitch however there were stories about the contrasting fortunes and lifestyles of two of the greatest players they have been produced in the last twenty years.

While Ronaldo found himself embroiled in a scandal involving transsexual prostitutes, AC Milan’s Kaka confirmed his position as one of the most reluctant superstars in world football when it was announced that he was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.  There is much to admire about Kaka apart from his irresistible genius when he has a ball at his feet.

The fact that he made it to the level of current great after an accident that nearly paralysed him as a teenager is testament to his character and a contributing factor to his strong religious beliefs.  However we’ve seen many players, especially from South America, break free from the reigns of what was thought possible and turn themselves into global sporting superstars.

There is something that distinguishes Kaka from the rest of the great talent of football and it is the reason he is on this list.  He is without the doubt the archetypal role model not just in sporting terms but any walk of life.  Having reached the pinnacle of his profession he was awarded the Fifa World Player Of The Year trophy.

Rather than place the trophy alongside his Champions League winning medals on his mantelpiece he decided to donate the prize to the church of which he is a member in his homeland.  His reasoning was that without God it would not have been possible for him to have reached this heights and so the church was more deserving of it than him personally.

Whilst you can argue all day about your own personal religious beliefs (if any) the significance of this gesture cannot be discounted.  Over 5,000 watched it be presented to the church and many have flocked there since to simply look at it.  In a country such as Brazil it is confirmation that, despite the awful crime rates and horrifying poverty that a large part of the country are victim to, anything is possible with the combination of natural talent and desire.

In 2004 Kaka was made a UN world food programme ambassador and is also a leading proponent of abstaining from sex before marriage.  Again it doesn’t matter if you echo these beliefs but when your country is in the grip of an AIDS epsidemic then for a national icon to make such a stand must be congratulated even though in his own mind he is not doing anything extraordinary.

There has been some debate about how deserved Kaka’s place on the list is and I can see the arguements against his inclusion.  He is not a global celebrity on anywhere near a comparable level to someone such as a David Beckham or even his Brazilian team mate Ronaldinho, neither of whom make the list.

However Time magazine’s stance is admirable because they clearly agree that his is a cause worth highlighting and a story that deserves to be publicised on a worldly-read list such as this one.

it is hard not find his story inspirational and the only thing short of making him an automatic choice on the list would be that his shunning of the media spotlight means that not enough people are aware of him.  If even one person reads about him and finds some meaning from it then the decision will be instantly justified.  Isn’t that instantly more preferable to effectively adverting whatever project Beckham has given his name to or trying to drum up publicity for Ronaldinho’s upcoming summer transfer?