‘Maradona, Balotelli are needed in sport’

Dubai: One of America’s top social innovator, author and researcher has urged the world to hail sporting talents such as Diego Maradona and Mario Balotelli instead of labeling them as ‘misfits.’

Maradona the legend and Balotelli were cited as examples of a flawed genius, but Prof Andrew Harrison insisted that personalties like them need to be appreciated for their talent and contribution in changing their sport rather than be shunned for their idiosyncracies.

Delivering the keynote address at the 10th Dubai International Symposium for Sports Creativity under the auspices of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, Harrision observed that geniuses like Maradona and Balotelli need to be embraced.

“In any sphere of life we have builders, pioneers or the people in-between. People like Maradona and Balotelli are needed as they think out of the box. They are creative and innovative and we need to embrace them for what they are,” Harrison said.

“I don’t think we can term their drawbacks as flaws. Maradona and Balotelli are who they are and they are just being, who they are. We need to find ways to let people who are more pioneering and who think out of the box, be who they are while also understanding that they are working together in a team. No doubt, people like Maradona and Balotelli are harder to manage because they do things differently. But if you can put in an extra energy to get them comfortable then you can have them harnessing their energy in scoring goals and not on the other things that are normally going on in their lives,” he added.

Harrison stressed that the world needs to stay open-minded about embracing people for their talent and their ability to contribute towards the development and evolution of sport. “We need people like Maradona and Balotelli even though it’s more complicated having them. It is not their fault that they are that way as we are all born different, and they are just being who they are. What is needed is clever managers to manage them and harness their energy,” Harrison noted.

Harrison has a unique background as social innovator, author and researcher of human motivation. His research began in 2004 when he exchanged his master’s degree and high paying sales job for a year travelling the US interviewing people from varied backgrounds about how they came to discover passion for their work.

His study of human motivation is documented in his first book titled: Love Your 84,000 Hours at Work.

Earlier, Mattar Al Tayer presided over the opening of the symposium where he recognised the services of innovators associated with the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award that is held annually under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC).