Sportsmen venturing into politics is nothing new in the world today. Many stars after retiring from their respective sports have tried a hands at the politics, but only a few have succeeded in holding important political positions in their countries.
The Live Mirror takes a look into the 10 such sports personalities who are as famous during their political career as they were during their time in the field of play.
Sportsmen Turned Successful Politicians
George Weah
Following the end of the second Liberian civil War, the striker who had retired from the game in 2003, announced his intention to run for the Presidential election of Liberia in 2005. He formed the Congress for Democratic Change political party in the same year but was unsuccessful. Criticised by many from the opposition parties, for his lack of political knowledge – they called him ‘babe in the woods’ – he eventually was elected to the Liberian Senate in 2014. Four years later he was elected as the President of Liberia, winning by more than a 60% majority of votes.
Imran Khan
One of the greatest all-rounders of the game, the 65-year-old had captained Pakistan to their only World Cup victory in 1992. With 300+ wickets and over 3000 runs, he is also one of the just eight cricketers to have achieved the ‘All-rounder’s Triple’ in Test cricket.
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He retired from the game the game post the World Cup and formed the PTI political party in 1996 and after repeated failures and many controversial moments – that saw him tear his nomination paper in the 2008 General elections – Khan finally seems to have savoured the taste of glory. He is tipped to become the next Prime-Minister of Pakistan.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Rathore, who took a voluntary retirement from the army in 2013, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2014, he was elected to the Parliament as an MP and was also appointed as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. Three years later he was appointed as the Sports Minster.
Manny Pacquiao
He was elected to the House of Representatives of Philippines in 2010 and was re-elected for the same post in 2013. In June, 2016, Pacquiao was elected as the Senator on a six-year term. Pacquiao has also ventured into music, acting, anchoring and business.
Kamisese Mara
The founding father of Fiji, Kamisese Mara was the first Prime-Minister of the country from 1970-1992. He also served as the President of Fiji from 1993-2000.
Mara, who passed away in 2004, had played in two first-class matches in New Zealand. He had scored 64 and taken eight wickets in those two matches, while Fiji was still under colonial rule of the United Kingdom. He also served as the Chief-Minister of the then colonized Fiji from 167 to 1970.
Navjot Singh Sidhu
The 54-year-old who made his international debut in 1983, smashed four consecutive 50s at the 1987 World Cup. He was ruthless against the spinners and especially took Shane Warne to the cleaners in the 1997-98 series against Australia.
Sidhu has also had a career in Television, appearing in multiple shows and also worked as a commentator for many years. He also acted in a TV series named Kareena Kareena in 2004-05.
Mohammed Azharuddin
He was banned for life by the BCCI, India’s prime cricket body. In a bid to raise his damaged reputation, Azharuddin joined the National Congress in 2009 and was elected as a member of the Parliament, where he served from 2009-2014.
A movie based on his life was also released in 2016. The Biopic tittled ‘Azhar’ had Emraan Hashmi playing the role of the tarnished cricketer, Azharuddin has also disclosed his intention to re-contest the election in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Beginning at the teenage age of 15, Arnold went on to become one of the greatest body-builders of all-time, winning the Mr. Olympia contest a record seven times. He was called the ‘Austrian Oak’ during in his body-building days, ‘Arnie’ in the Hollywood industry and the ‘Governator’ during his time as the governor.
Prasun Banerjee
The 63-year-old who represented India in over 100 football matches, is the only second Indian player to for an Asian All-star XI. He was part of the Asian team that played against Brazil. A Mohun Bagan legend, Banerjee was also part of the famous Green-Maroon team, who held a Pele led New York Cosmos to 2-2 draw in Kolkata, 1977.
Idi Amin
But during the years Uganda was under the colonized rule of the United Kingdom, Amin was a prominent boxer serving in the British army and later in the Uganda national army. He won the Light Heavyweight Championship between 1951and 1960.
These were the top 10 Sportsmen turned into successful Politicians. Let us know which once are your favourite in the comments below?