Mesut Ozil has received
the Laureus Media Prize for his
charitable work with Brazilian
children.
The ceremony, which includes the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation of
Germany/Austria, was held in Berlin. The
spotlight of the prizes focused on
contributions made in the field of sports
journalism, as well as people and
organisations who have demonstrated a
special level of social commitment.
The 2014 Honorary Prize for Charity Work
was awarded to Ozil for his special social
commitment during the World Cup in
Brazil. Thanks to the donations made by
Ozil, it was possible to perform surgery
on 23 Brazilian children primarily suffering
from cleft lips and palates, in the city of
Coroata ahead of the World Cup.
As a result of the donations and in
partnership with the organisation
“BigShoe”, Ozil enabled the operations to
be carried out and the lives of 23 children
to be significantly improved. The
commitment demonstrated by Ozil and
the media attention which was generated
also made it possible to attract additional
benefactors to help further projects.
On receiving the award, Ozil said: "Making
the donation was a foregone conclusion as
far as I was concerned. I 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. I am proud
to have received this Honorary Prize from
Laureus. It's a very special feeling to be
included on the list of previous winners.
However, I don't just consider this to be
merely a prize but also see it as an
incentive for me to engage in further
social commitment."
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann
also received an award during the
evening, for his outstanding contribution
to the ‘Kicking Girls’ initiative, a project
established in 2009 in the socially
disadvantaged districts of Germany.
The project helps girls aged between
eight and 16, particularly those from
ethnic minorities, with the aim to provide
access into local clubs and ensure that,
once there, they can be successfully
integrated both into the club and society
as a whole.
Copyright 2014 The Arsenal Football Club
plc. Permission to use quotations from
this article is granted subject to
appropriate credit being given to
www.arsenal.com as the source

God bless Özil and Arsenal.