Weah, Kasparov, Pacquiao… Before Riner, these athletes who dreamed of presiding their country

Before Teddy Riner, other famous athletes in their country aimed to chair it. George Weah, Garry Kasparov and Ahmed Ben Bella have thus experienced varying fortunes.

This is a landmark candidacy in France. For the first time, a professional athlete, and an active one, has declared himself a candidate for the presidential election. Teddy Riner, judoka with five Olympic titles, can however rely on colleagues abroad to serve as an example, even if the contexts were often very different. Overview of athletes who have pursued the same goal.

George Weah, from PSG at the head of Liberia

Who would have thought, when he received the Ballon d'Or in 1995, that George Weah would be elected president of Liberia twenty-two years later? The former footballer for Monaco (1988-92), PSG (1992-95) and OM (2000-01) began his political reconversion in 2005, two years after his sporting retirement. He was 39 years old at the time, but he had already been involved in humanitarian work for almost a decade.

Former ambassador to the UN, unofficial lawyer of a country ravaged by civil wars (1989-97 then 1999-2003), Weah ran in the 2005 election...