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CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who ended his career in the Russian national team this fall, entered the master's program at the Russian State University. Gubkin in the direction of "management". In 2008, he already managed to graduate from the Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sports, Youth and Tourism (RGUFKSMiT).

“When there are questions, say, about some exchange, I’m completely zero and I don’t understand anything. I’m interested in some basics,” Akinfeev told university television. “It’s clear that I’m not a super smart person, football takes up most of my life. But I will discover something for myself, I will understand what and how to do in the future, you never know."

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Many other successful Russian athletes studied at the same university at different times. If for those who did not have a football career, getting an education looks logical, then among top footballers this is not the most relevant trend.

Nevertheless, there are such cases - both in Russia and in other countries. The BBC Russian service talks about some of them.

Juan Mata

The 30-year-old Manchester United midfielder, the 2010 world champion with Spain, has been playing in England since 2011. Even before leaving his homeland, he, speaking for Valencia, entered the Polytechnic University of Madrid, where he completed his studies already in the status of a Chelsea player. Now he has two degrees - in the field of sports and marketing.

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"I don't think football and studies are mutually exclusive. I'm focused on my career, but I know how to enjoy other things, like studying," Mata told The Independent. The newspaper noted that in England the leisure of football players, as a rule, looks different: a pub, a bookmaker's office, a golf course.

Andrey Arshavin

One of the most talented and successful Russian football players of the 2000s, at the age of 17, entered the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design (SPbGUPTD) at the Faculty of Chemical Technology. Then he transferred to the Faculty of Technology and Fashion Design.

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On the website of the university, a separate page is dedicated to him, which lists mainly his sports successes, but also mentions the topic of the diploma - "Development of technology for the production of sportswear."

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It is difficult to say to what extent the education he received was useful to the football player. In 2010, Arshavin launched his own clothing brand, but, apparently, this story did not develop.

The teachers of SPbGUPTD suggested that he go to graduate school, but Arshavin chose football and still plays it. Now the 37-year-old footballer plays for the Almaty "Kairat".

Vincent Kompany

The 32-year-old Belgian Manchester City captain earned an MBA from the University of Manchester Business School last year.

“I always believed that education is very important, my late mother invested it in me as a child,” Kompany said. “When you play at the top level, you even manage your own money as if you were running a business. It was important for me to understand what my accountant says.

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He explained the choice of business education by the fact that he is an entrepreneur by nature: "I got an MBA to back it up with academic knowledge."

Vincent's father stands out against the background of other parents of football players in the same way as his son - against the background of his colleagues. Pierre Kompany, 71, became the first black mayor in Belgian history this week. He won the elections in the commune of Ganshoren, which is part of the Brussels-Capital District.

Roman Shirokov

"RSSU student became the owner of the UEFA Super Cup". The news with this headline was published on the website of the Russian State Social University on August 30, 2008. Shirokov at that time played for the St. Petersburg "Zenith" and at the same time studied in the specialty "jurisprudence".

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After graduating from university, he managed to play for Krasnodar, Spartak and CSKA, and in 2016 he ended his career. A few months later, he began studying sports management at the Higher School of Economics.

“Some asked why I need it - then why do you; you came to study, and I want to,” Shirokov explained.

Romelu Lukaku

Another Manchester United player with a university education. His parents came to Belgium from Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His father, without much success, played for local football clubs, and his mother worked as a cleaner.

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Lukaku went to football school at the age of five, but his parents allowed Romel and his brother Jordan to play football only if they had good grades in school. They wanted to see their sons as scientists, not athletes.

The children still chose football, but Romelu Lukaku did not neglect his education. He received a bachelor's degree in tourism and excelled in languages ​​- he speaks English, French, Dutch, Congolese and Spanish.

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“Education is taken very seriously in Belgium. You don’t study well at school during the week - you don’t play football at the weekend. You can get injured and no longer play at a high level. And if you don’t have a diploma, what then?” Lukaku argued in 2012. He is now 25 and at the peak of his football career.

Dmitry Bulykin

Dmitry Bulykin had a notable career at the club level - he played for the Moscow "Locomotive" and "Dynamo", the German "Bayer", the Belgian "Anderlecht" and several clubs from the Netherlands.

Image copyright Nikolsky Alexey Image caption Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Bulykin during the World Cup in Russia

He chose an educational institution typical for Russian football players - the same RGUFKSMiT, but in his studies he advanced further than many; in 2007, Bulykin became a candidate of pedagogical sciences. The topic of his dissertation was: "The technique of starting actions in football and athletics sprint."

“In Holland, someone who has such a degree is treated with the word “doctor.” So they sometimes say to me: “Hello, doctor Bulykin,” the football player said in 2011, speaking for ADO Den Haag.

Two years ago, he completed his sports career and now works as an adviser to the general director of Lokomotiv.

Simon Mignolet

Things are not going well for the 30-year-old Belgium and Liverpool goalkeeper at the club. He does not have a solid position in the starting XI, although he has been called one of the most talented goalkeepers of his generation. But to say that his football career did not work out is impossible.

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In parallel with playing football, Mignolet received a degree in political science from the Catholic University of Leuven. In addition, he speaks English, French, Dutch and German.

“I did this in my free time,” Mignolet said of his studies. “It’s not so easy to sit down to study after training when everyone else is enjoying life.”

There is an opinion that it is impossible to combine sports and studies and that all professional athletes are ignorant. We will prove the opposite on the example of the biographies of a gymnast, a wrestler and a tennis player.

Svetlana Khorkina - two-time Olympic champion and Ph.D.

Svetlana Khorkina is called the "Queen of the bars". She won all the major gymnastic competitions, invented several new elements, became an honored master of sports and received state awards.

At the same time, Khorkina managed to graduate from Belgorod University and defend her Ph.D. thesis on the topic “Studying sports and gymnastic exercises using linear didactic programming”.

Here is how Svetlana herself talks about combining sports and studies in one of the interviews:

“From the first to the eleventh grade, I studied at secondary school No. 19. For the first three years, Nina Nikolaevna Helm, an honored teacher of the USSR, studied with us. It was she who gave me the opportunity to love the school. She was one of the first to understand that I had already chosen my path - sports. Even then I went to competitions, missed lessons somewhere, but I learned 100% the basics and the base for the three classes that I completed with excellent marks. For this I am very grateful to Nina Nikolaevna, and when I come to Belgorod, I always try to go to school. In grades 10–11, I studied externally, because the 1996 Olympics were ahead, and I urgently needed to enter the university. Then it was very easy to enter a university: masters of sports passed only an essay for credit. I wrote Gorky's "At the Bottom" in order to enter the Faculty of Philology, and, of course, I entered.

Alexander Karelin - three-time Olympic champion and Doctor of Science

Alexander Karelin is one of the most titled Russian athletes. He won the Olympic Games three times (for the first time at the age of 21), the World Championship nine times, and the European championship twelve times. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as an athlete who has not lost a single fight for thirteen years. Awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Karelin reached heights not only in sports, but also in education. First he graduated from the Novosibirsk Motor Transport College, then the Omsk Institute of Physical Culture. In 1998 he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic "Methodology for conducting counter-attacks from throws with deflection", and in 2002 he became a doctor of pedagogical sciences.

Here is what Alexander Alexandrovich answered when in one of the interviews he was asked if the struggle prevented him from studying:

“On the contrary, it helped me. After hard, exhausting workouts, when you lose three kilograms of weight in two hours, I came to school and rested. It was then that I realized that learning is easy and simple. [...] I remember when I entered a technical school, our curator, seeing that I was talking, was shocked. She even asked me: “Sasha, can you speak?” (Laughs.) For some reason, it is believed that wrestlers are narrow-minded people. There is even a joke about us. “Stupid muzzle on a thick neck. Who is this?" Answer: Fighter! (Laughs.) But I want to tell you that it was thanks to the struggle that I began to read more, think more. Wrestling is the art of excellence not only in technical equipment or physical mass, but also in thought. And also the struggle is a process of overcoming oneself.

Maria Sharapova is a five-time Grand Slam winner and a student again

Maria Sharapova won every Grand Slam and Olympic silver. She received the title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia and was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

Sharapova graduated from the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and began her professional sports career at the age of 14. Now she is 31, she is one of the highest paid and famous tennis players in the world, but two years ago she again “sat down at her desk”. Maria entered the prestigious Harvard Business School.

She spoke with pleasure about student life in her Instagram.

“After 300 pages read and three hours of sleep, it is quite possible to become discouraged (by the way, I slightly exaggerated the numbers), but not here! What a wonderful experience it is.”

“I love learning outdoors so much after long hours in classrooms,” she wrote.

By the way, Sharapova learned English on her own online!

“Due to constant training and competition, I study online at Keyston National School. They send me books, I study them, do my homework, and then I take exams online on the Internet.

The athlete told in one of the old interviews.

Conclusion

Sport does not interfere, but helps to study. With a good school base, it is easier for athletes to find a job after their career ends. You can even become a doctor of sciences - there would be a desire!

If your child loves sports, and you want him to have an "airbag", take a closer look at family education. This is a modern form of training that allows you to learn without interruption from training and competition. In detail about family education and how to combine sports with study, we have a separate one.

- What was your favorite subject at school?

Khudzhamov: He was a dreamer, he wanted to visit the other end of the Earth, so he loved history and geography. I also liked Russian and Ukrainian literature.

Obradovic: Mathematics. I have loved counting since I was a child, and I love it now.

- How often were your parents called to school?

Khudzhamov: Only once. I leaned on the window, and it squeezed out. Once again they kicked out of the lesson - they indulged with a neighbor. And when I left the class, my dad saw me ...

Obradovic: It happened. He liked to play football in the school yard and smashed the windows several times with the ball.

- Schoolchildren's graduation is coming soon, but how did you finish school?

Khudzhamov: No triples in the certificate. But with a prom fight. Four gopniks began to take something away from their friends, and 30 of us were sitting next to us in the bushes. They ran away very quickly.

Obradovic: We have a slightly different study - only eight classes. There I studied for one five. Then four years of technical school - there were already triples there.

- Do you skip classes often?

Khudzhamov: For all the time I skipped one or two lessons. As a child, I was very obligatory, and missing a workout or lesson, even due to illness, was like death.

Obradovic: Not often, but sometimes. When he fell in love, he ran away on dates. By the way, the Serbian poetess Desanka Maksimovich has very beautiful poems about love...

- At school, did you cheat more often or did you?

Khudzhamov: I remember sometimes I copied something from Pasha Kutas from Chornomorets. I also successfully remembered something in algebra, so I wrote off all the control for five.

Obradovic: Rarely. And he knew mathematics better than anyone in the class, he finished all the tests earlier and helped the rest. I sent solutions on small pieces of paper.

Brothers Kombarovs at school they used their “official position”. In their case - the similarity of twins. By the way, they are not alone - Berezutsky also benefited from almost complete identity. When the teacher called Vasya to the board in physics or mathematics, Lyosha walked. Answered, received a good grade, and classmates all, of course, laughed. Knowing perfectly well that this is actually Lyosha, and not Vasya.

Similar tricks were performed by the Kombarovs. Here is an excerpt from their interview with the "Championship" correspondent Denis whole.

- What did you have to do instead of each other? Let's go on dates?

K.K.: I didn’t have to go on dates, but Dima once took an exam for me at school.

- Successfully?

K.K.: Yes, four. It was geography, and he was better prepared. We painted a mole on him, and he went to take the exam instead of me.

- And no one noticed the catch?

K.K.: No, everything went smoothly. Many of us only by a mole and distinguished.

He is not afraid to admit: absenteeism took place in his biography.

I recall with horror all these early rises, eternal prayers: “Mom, I don’t want to go to school, leave me alone!”, - said the goalkeeper of the red and white. - Sometimes I skipped, I will not hide.

- For the sake of football or just like that?
- Just. Football has nothing to do with it. But don't make me a slob, I rarely missed class! But sometimes it hurts to sleep...

- What subjects did not like especially?
- Algebra, geometry, physics… Hard sciences for me. I'm more of a humanitarian.

- But now you are perfectly geometrically folded at the gate. You hit the balls from any angle.
- It's not for me to evaluate, but maybe the geometry helped in some way.

- Did you have the same charismatic teacher at school as Karpin?
- Yes! I immediately remember a physics teacher who liked to repeat: "My sword pointer is your head off your shoulders." This, of course, is not to the fact that Karpin has the same philosophy! But that teacher, like Valery Georgievich, knew how to put people in their place.

So formally, Karpin sometimes adheres to this principle: a few unsuccessful matches, and that’s it, “head off his shoulders”, goodbye, a place at the base.
- That's it! That's why I say that in some ways Karpin and my physicist are similar.

There is something to be said about physics and Sergei Parshivlyuk. True, in a completely different way.

Chemistry and physics are not mine. Geometry was also hard. Mathematics - more or less. But the Russian language was given easily. Wrote without errors.

Until the 5th grade, he studied at a regular general education school, and from the 6th grade he moved to a specialized class "B" of school No. 1036 at the Spartak Sports School. It is located not far from the ice palace in Sokolniki, and in principle it is also an ordinary school, but it was the “B” classes that were reserved for athletes. By the way, they also studied there Dzyuba, And Shishkin, And Rebko... Yes, almost all graduates of the Spartak football school. Naturally, everyone tried to get a general education, but the emphasis was still more on football.

- Did you skip classes?
- I will not hide - they skipped (smiles). We were one team and tried to do everything together. If they decided to take a walk, then everyone participated in it.

- Who was your favorite teacher?
- I always remember with warmth our class teacher Lyudmila Fedorovna.

Was September 1st a special day for you?
- Yes. On this day, it became completely clear that the holidays, unfortunately, were over ...

“How to kick a high school student in the ass…”

Defender of Lokomotiv Vitaly Denisov. True, independent and earning a lot of money. It is all the more interesting to understand what he was like at school.

- Did you like school at all, Vitaly?
- I remember, before the first lesson of enthusiasm in my life, I had a sea! New knowledge, friends, impressions ... - Denisov recalled in an interview with the "Championship". - But some time passed, I boiled in this cauldron and began to perceive many things differently (laughs). I quickly felt like going to school.

I have never been strong in the exact sciences. Physics, chemistry is not for me. But I “played out” in tongues. Uzbek, English, French - everything was easy for me. I even do not know why. Although French I now forgot a little.

- That is, a translator at Lokomotiv would have been calmly settled then?
- Well, you don't have to go so far... The translator, even in Lokomotiv, is a huge responsibility. But I really liked foreign languages ​​at school.

- Did you skip classes often?
- No! I was honest. If you didn’t do your homework, didn’t learn something, didn’t understand something, you just had to blush in front of the teacher. But stories in the spirit of “Oh no, they will reprimand me in front of the whole class and put a deuce - I won’t survive this, I’ll stay at home” I didn’t have.

Screwed up - answer for your actions. I could formally “truant” only for a good reason. That is, because of football, some competitions, tournaments.

- In physics, I think you were the coolest student.
- Well, it probably is. (laughs). Always put only fives. Well, in general, it’s strange, I get a B in physical education ...

Was there a girl whom you always pulled by pigtails, sought attention and she distracted you from physics, the exact sciences, and from everything in a row?
- The first classes I kept myself in hand (laughs). But from the fifth ... Let's say, the "game of love" began. I walked with the girls, saw them off, gave flowers ... Although I can’t say that I ever lost my head because of a classmate, stopped studying. Everything was in moderation.

What is the first story from your school years that comes to your mind?
- You know, I ended up in a class, let's say, "not the smartest." There were twos, threes and good guys in it. Excellent students were sent to other classes. But in fact, the guys were very smart, quick-witted.

For a long time I did not understand why such smart guys and girls often get bad grades. Then everything became clear: elementary laziness was to blame. They just didn't want to learn, that's all.

When something happened at our school - no matter what it was - my class was always checked first. Something broke, someone ran away from the lessons, someone was hit in the eye - suspicion still falls on us.

- Did you hit anyone in the eye?
- Certainly! How without it? But I was never really beaten. Because I was physically superior to my peers. So, there was one high school student, a couple of years older. And he and his classmates constantly hit on one of ours. A simple guy, from a poor family, kind, sympathetic, but a terrible slob! And, in general, we always tried to stand up for him.

A year has passed, I have grown up, got stronger and properly answered this bully! So that he does not stick to anyone. What exactly did he do? Yes, he hit him in the ass! And since then our class has come to dominate (laughs). They didn't even think about approaching anyone. And after that incident...

Speaking of slackers. They were not only in the class of the Lokomotiv defender, but also in some of St. Petersburg. For example, where he studied Andrey Arshavin. And the Zenit midfielder was the same slob. Which he himself has repeatedly admitted.

Arshavin was too lazy to do "homework", and therefore received deuces regularly. Yes, and behaved by no means exemplary. For example, he hid entries in his diaries from his mother, where they demanded her immediate appearance at school. Because of the misbehavior of his son.

Andrei spoke too frankly with teachers, clashed with peers and tore up class magazines. But he was very fond of literature, and in general he found something interesting in all subjects. And he was considered an extremely talented, albeit difficult child.

Replace the last word with "player" - and get Arshavin the football player. In general, already at school, the current RFPL stars were in many ways what they are now.

The other day the leader of Madrid "Real" Cristiano Ronaldo was deprived of a driver's license. the site suggests recalling the names of football players whose acquaintance with the traffic police also ended in the loss of a driver's license.

Monday is a tough day. On May 6, he was returning home in his luxurious Lamborghini Aventador and was noted for a traffic violation. The request of the police to stop and get out of the car, Ronaldo, as, by the way, had already happened before, ignored and continued to move. True, after a moment, he changed his mind and slowed down. After the peace officer accidentally touched the car of the Portuguese with a flashlight, he unceremoniously showered the policeman with unflattering epithets. The crusts from Cristiano were taken away for this. It is curious that a passer-by stood up for law enforcement officers, who turned out to be - lo and behold! - an Atlético fan! The vocabulary of the "mattress" turned out to be more impressive than that of Ronaldo, and he won the night in the precinct.
P.S. By the way, at Manchester United, Ronaldo had a Ferrari. Tastes are changing.

10. ("MU")

The Manchester United defender has been squeezing all the juice out of his Jaguar XJ: since the beginning of 2012, Ferdinand has exceeded the speed limit six times, and three times on the same section of the track. However, in our Palestinians, these figures look completely frivolous: instead of the permissible 48 km / h, the speedometer of the Rio car showed off a figure of only 61 km / h. As a result, all the road “jambs” of the Mancunian resulted in a six-month “ban” and a 500-pound fine. However, the driving ban has already expired, and Ferdy can again take the kids to school.

9th (Fiorentina)

Violets forward Luca Toni also once unsuccessfully rode the edge of the law. When he was a Juventus player (season 2011/12), he was sanctioned by Italian traffic cops. Cause: Drunk driving. It is curious that the alcohol content in the football player's blood was only 0.1 ppm higher than the legal norm. Celebrating the anniversary of a relationship with a girlfriend resulted in Tony being deprived of a driver's license for three months.

8. ("Real")

In February, the Madrid traffic police refused to believe the honest eyes of the Real Madrid defender, who, apparently, left the coveted “crust” at home. Now Marcelo will not be able to drive his “swallow” for eight months. Also, the Brazilian "hit" a fine of 6 thousand euros.

7. (Manchester City)

Manchester City midfielder scored a hat-trick for speeding. As a result, for unpaid fines, the Frenchman was deprived of his rights for six months. At first, Nasri, of course, denied it, at his request they even postponed the hearings. However, he could not prove his innocence and was forced to confess to his deed. The total amount of the fine exceeded five average salaries of a Saratov worker - 2,000 pounds.

6. ("Cardiff City")

The Welshman ran into the traffic police at the end of January: the forward, as in the good old jokes, drove at a speed of 100 km / h (instead of the prescribed 80) in his Audi Q7 along the Liverpool road. Over the past year, Bellamy scored so many points (in the UK, it is precisely such a system) that even James LeBron would envy. As a result - 1300 pounds of a fine and a taboo on driving for six months.

5. ("Real")

All this is child's play compared to the numbers that Karim Benzema's Lamborgini speedometer showed in March of this year. The forward rushed into the "night light" at a speed of 215 km/h in a section with a limit of 100 km/h. The Spanish court deprived the Frenchman of his driver's license for eight months, and also ordered him to pay a fine of 18,000 euros. As an adult, don't say anything.

4. ("Stoke City")

Last fall, the wings of Stoke City forward Peter Crouch's Pegasus were also clipped. The Englishman scored 21 points, but, unfortunately, it was not blackjack at all. According to the law in the UK, rights are withdrawn after the offender scored 12 points, and Petya surpassed the limit by as much as nine! Twice the player was punished for speeding (110 km/h instead of 60). In addition, Crouch's pocket is 1,300 pounds lighter.

3. (Manchester City)

The Argentine has a tradition - every year to give a driver's license to the traffic police. However, this time it was difficult for law enforcement officers to take away from the football player what he did not have. In this way, the attacker extended his "ban" until October 2013. Carlos was also soldered a thousand pounds fine and 250 hours of hard labor. And rightly so: now the streets near the Etihad will be clean and beautiful. And then some Manchester people spit chewing gum, you know!

2. (Manchester City)

The 24-year-old defender is also not averse to getting drunk. It's just that he doesn't want to pay his bills. In early April, the “citizen” decided to continue the “glorious” work of Samir Nasri and Carlos Tevez. A Man City player has been banned from driving for six months for refusing to pay two fines. It seems that soon the violation of traffic rules will turn into a kind of club trend.

1. ("Juventus")

The Dane continues to be distinguished by his near-football actions. No, he did not score more points than Pavlyuchenko in karaoke, and he did not knock out 180 points from the City youth players, as the incomparable Mario did. The forward just made the “horses” jump at full speed in his Porsche 911 Turbo, for which, in fact, he was deprived of his rights for two months, and also punished with a denyuzhka - 660 pounds. Earlier, Bendtner and teammate Lee Cattermole appeared in court for causing damage to parked cars near St. James Park. Be careful guys, be careful.

+ BONUS

("Milan")

Of course, we could not ignore the main brawler of modern football - Mario Balotelli. It seems that a football player smokes on trains, indulges in pyrotechnics, trains club "youngsters", fights with drug addicts near nightclubs ... Did he really have no problems with traffic rules? Of course there were. Yes, that's just the driver's "ksiva" is still with him. The police “rewarded” the Italian only with penalty points and monetary penalties (the latter were quite impressive - more than 11 thousand pounds). Several violations for speeding (by the way, he has a whole fleet of vehicles in which you can find a Mercedes S65AMG, as well as a camouflage Bentley Continental GT), parking in the style of a blonde, well, the window is too tinted - that, in fact, is all that Supermario can boast of . But we all know that there is still more to come. Otherwise it wouldn't be Balo.

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