Pakistan

Shahid Afridi among world's top 20 charitable athletes

Afridi named along world renowned athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, John Cena, Maria Sharapova and others

Web Desk August 16, 2015

PHOTO: SHAHID AFRIDI TWITTER

Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi has been nominated among top 20 most charitable athletes of 2015, according to a press release from Shahid Afridi Foundation.

After earning his name and fame in cricket, Afridi set a new record in welfare works as he established his Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) in March 2014 with the aim of improving and enriching the lives of the underprivileged.

Afridi has been named in DoSomething.org's list along world renowned athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, John Cena, Serena Williams, Yuna Kim, Neymar Jr, LeBron James, Maria Sharapova, Mo'ne Davis, Richard Sherman and others.

Read: Shahid Afridi is a legend of the game: Sohail Tanvir

The foundation started by the cricket star aspires to upgrade the quality of life of common man by imparting free education and basic healthcare. The foundation has also been providing poor with medical facilities free of cost in Kohat, covering as many as 14 villages.

Real Madrid and Portugal ace footballer Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list for his work for various causes, including donating more than $83,000 to a 10-year-old fan in need of brain surgery and giving more than $165,000 to fund a cancer center in Portugal that treated his mother.

Here is the complete list of the top 20 charitable athletes:

1) Cristiano Ronaldo

2) John Cena

3) Serena Williams

4) Yuna Kim

5) Neymar Jr.

6) LeBron James

7) Heather O'Reilly

8) Maria Sharapova

9) Mo'ne Davis

10) Richard Sherman

11) Meryl Davis & Charlie White

12) Dan Carter

13) Roman Reigns

14) Ronda Rousey

15) Lindsey Vonn

16) Tom Daley

17) Bethany Hamilton

18) Saina Nehwal

19) Paul Rabil

20) Shahid Afridi

COMMENTS (29)

Arzoo Rahman | 3 years ago | Reply Beautiful handsome man with beautiful heart... Love you LALA...

Rajasimman | 9 years ago | Reply Excellent work by afridi as a human being....he attract many hearts....I like him very much...keep it up

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Sun Tzu | 9 years ago | Reply @indian cricketer: use your brain - just work out the ration and proportion.- for a Cricketer who has today about Rs1000 crore, to donate Rs50 lakhs is exactly the same as a simple middle-class worker with Rs10 lakh salary per annum donating Rs500.

miss-know-it-all | 9 years ago | Reply Shameless Indian! There is only one Indian on this list, had they been on this list the poor in your country would have had a better life, loser!

miss-know-it-all | 9 years ago | Reply Some people critisize like idiots, it doesn't matter if you want to be named or not for your charitable work. What matters is that it is actually going to help the underprivileged. He has to make it known, so people donate more and more. IK has also been fundraising publically all his live, doing live telethons and such. What afridi is doing is a great service to humanity. If you can't help the ones in need, then just shutup!

MJ | 9 years ago | Reply Good effort by Afridi but the headline is misleading. It would've made sense if we knew how much he is personally contributing to this charity. If it would comes to contributing your hard earned money, more people in Pakistan trust Edhi than any other charitable organization. Their overheads are really low and service history is impeccable.

Rana Mohan | 9 years ago | Reply Dear All, Thanks a lot to Afridi. It is true many people are behind his foundation but the real organizer and willingness belongs to Afridi so they gave him this credit. In one way it is good to make publicity so that many others could be inspipired to participate in this kind of charitable activities. But in summery this kind of individualistc charitable activities could not bring a radical change in a society or in a country , it needs the effort of the whole countryand globally with a political willingness.

Milind | 9 years ago | Reply @Aqeel Khan / Bhai ji - I concur.. a cricket who laps up all endorsements, advertisments and earns more ought to be on that list. On a sidenote - Hopefully Afridi's charitable organization is not associated with some regressive entity like Tableeghi Jamaat or something similar, unlike Imran Khan's Shaukat Khanum hospital, which is independent of all these.

indian cricketer | 9 years ago | Reply @BhaiJi: @Aqeel khan: @Sun Tzu: The list is incorrect. Sachin sponsors education for as many as 200 underprivileged children apart from donating 51 lakhs to Uttarakhand flood relief. Read more http://www.sportskeeda.com/vote/sachin-tendulkars-charity-work%20 He adopted a slummy village in Andha, India transforming it to a modern miracle. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/how-sachin-transformed-an-andhra-pradesh-village/article7054466.ece

Aqeel khan | 9 years ago | Reply i wonder on the list it has a badminton player from india on number 18, while no cricketer from india as it is more popular game there than badminton!

BhaiJi | 9 years ago | Reply Surprisingly we have Saina Nehwal but no cricketer from my country. Also i am surprised to know that John Cena is also an athlete.

Sun Tzu | 9 years ago | Reply Not surprised no Indian Billionaire-Criketer in the list.... Sachin donates a few lakhs here and there to temples - which makes the already-rich temples richer, and then probably claims back taxes on that money as "donations" are not taxed. Dhoni - busy expanding his collection of expensive custom-made Super-Bikes. Dravid probably spending on yachting holidays abroad. Shame to you all!!

raw is war | 9 years ago | Reply shamefully, not a single India cricketer in the list.

@umer | 9 years ago | Reply No too many social welfare organizations working in Kohat. Karachi already has quite a few, although i am sure you would argue more can be done for Karachi, but the people living in Kohat are also humans i believe and have an equal right to deserve charity as the karachiites.

Waqar Shah | 9 years ago | Reply Tribune is such a good news site and mostly followed by people with enlightened mind and intellectual capacity. However, after reading the negative comments from people above; I feel sorry for them. They need to be loved so their hate is killed. ‪#‎HopeNotOut‬

Ch. Allah Daad | 9 years ago | Reply Now nobody should mind free money he was getting for so many years. Over paid but useless players can also have good hearts. Thanks for making us proud.

Rao | 9 years ago | Reply The report has mentioned His foundation to be the reason for his name inclusion in the list. Interestingely his organization run on charities and donations. How come the report is giving credit to him only when we all know that many people are its contributors.

OMG | 9 years ago | Reply Pretty shameful that the spending of the whole Shahid Afridi Foundation is attributed as the money from the Shahid Afridi. He is following the footsteps of Imran Khan. Mr Afridi came in the United States and local Pakistanis donated generously. Now we are realizing the millions of rupees of funding is being used to publicize the name of Afridi.? Why some people do it like that?. Ronaldo spent the money from his own pocket. Shahid Afridi foundation runs through donations. How come you can compare these two?.

izaz haque | 9 years ago | Reply So many ways to be proud of Shahid Afridi.

just_someone | 9 years ago | Reply This is excellent, so proud of Shahid. Say what you want about him as a cricketer/person, you cant deny that he is a compassionate human being who brings job and excitement into the lives of the people who come in contact with him.

Naeem Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Kudos to Afridi for his efforts to make a difference in some people's lives. I wish our politicians could learn the art of giving instead of receiving. Wait, they think amassing wealth legally or illegally brings political power and political power brings in wealth. I salute Afridi for his contribution to the society. Keep up the good work, we love you.

aslam hameed | 9 years ago | Reply Shahid Afridi you have made the nation proud.May God bless you and others more strength and wisdom to continue with noble cause in life.Weldone Shahid.

umer | 9 years ago | Reply He lives in Karachi and donates in kohat that is surprising to know....

MAQ | 9 years ago | Reply Thanks, Shahid Afridi and all others who support the poor. This what makes you real people's champion.

roadkashehzada | 9 years ago | Reply thats wht keeping him in team

Hina Alam | 9 years ago | Reply I work with charity organizations. I know many sportsmen in Pakistan who contribute millions and request not to be named. Shaukat Khanum annually requires more than 1 Billion Rupees to run. Similarly SIUT Karachi requires crores of rupees. I know the names of many players who have donated a lot larger amount than anyone can imagine. But the problem is that they do not declare for the sake of humanity. But unfortunately some people do publicity even they spend a penny. They have futuristic motives to cash on such deeds.

ShamelessPakistanis | 9 years ago | Reply OMG so many indians on this list.

Besharam Khan | 9 years ago | Reply That is why people call him "Lala" (Big Bro)

Chachoo | 9 years ago | Reply Shahid Afridi Foundation themselves claimed and released this statement. The foundation of Mr Afridi has started a very shameful trend. Many people do charities and they do not even declare it. My family have donated more than 10,000 Rs to this foundation in the past. It is pretty shameful that the organization that is running on people funding is giving credit to one personality despite the fact that thousands of people are behind its success.

Replying to X