Back in 2003 Branko Milanovic wrote a curious paper titled Globalization and Goals: Does Soccer Show the Way (which came out in 2006 in the Review of International Political Economy)?

The paper shows how soccer (hmm, football) is a truly global sport that is accessible to all and with positive externalities for the global poor. Consider for example the fact that some of the greatest footballers come from modest backgrounds and developing countries.

There’s more in the paper and everyone should read it, but follow the link below for a draft of a presentation we are reviewing with students that we’ve put together on some of the tangible examples (beyond sports) of the greatest players contributing back to their communities and more: we have here Pele, Sadio Mané, Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Marcus Rashford , Juan Mata, Mohamed Salah, and couple of American footballers: Travis Kelce and Russell Wilson…

Hopefully more to come but here’s what have so far –> click here for PDF to open.