Mesut Ozil has been announced as a Laureus Ambassador, thanks to his work off the pitch that aims to assist youngsters through many projects, including KICKFORMORE.

The announcement was made during a visit to the KICKFORMORE project in Stuttgart where Mesut took part in activities with the young people present which involved playing KICKFAIR street football.

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Played to different rules, two teams of four players compete in short matches without a referee with just three individual rules agreed between the teams before kick-off. At the end of the game, fairness points are also awarded depending on how well players have adhered to the agreed rules.

“There are children here from several different cultural backgrounds, but it’s obvious that they are all united among nations and that it works out well. Most importantly, they are very respectful with each other, which is very much the same like in the German National team,” said Mesut.

STUTTGART, GERMANY – JUNE 06: New Laureus Ambassador Mesut Ozil meets young people from the Laureus-supported KICKFORMORE project in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Markus Gilliar for GES/Mercedes-Benz/Laureus)
STUTTGART, GERMANY – JUNE 06: New Laureus Ambassador Mesut Ozil meets young people from the Laureus-supported KICKFORMORE project in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Markus Gilliar for GES/Mercedes-Benz/Laureus)

“For me, community involvement is very important and I can identify with the mission of Laureus Sport for Good. Sport, in my case football, has changed my life and influenced me positively. I am eager to give something back to society and to help children and young people who need assistance.”

STUTTGART, GERMANY – JUNE 06: New Laureus Ambassador Mesut Ozil meets young people from the Laureus-supported KICKFORMORE project in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Markus Gilliar for GES/Mercedes-Benz/Laureus)
STUTTGART, GERMANY – JUNE 06: New Laureus Ambassador Mesut Ozil meets young people from the Laureus-supported KICKFORMORE project in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Markus Gilliar for GES/Mercedes-Benz/Laureus)

Ozil’s charity work came to the fore after the last World Cup when it was reported that he had paid for surgery for 23 Brazilian children who suffered with cleft lips and palates. “Making the [Brazil] donation was a foregone conclusion as far as I was concerned. We wanted to make a lasting mark in the World Cup country of Brazil and this is something which I think we managed to achieve with the operations on these children.”