Players Who Left the Beautiful Game for Other Sports | OneFootball

This nugget caught my attention today:

Probably Clickbait, but interesting nonetheless. (Source: X)

Details on the Chelsea $100M signing making such an about face are vague, outside of the 2028 Olympic Games try. Far more likely is that he could qualify for the upcoming Enhanced Games, as he faces FA charges for violating anti-doping rules. If found guilty, he faces a four-year ban. It is not understood whether a soccer-specific ban would prevent him from competing in another sport.

If true, Mykhailo Mudryk joins a short list of ex-soccer players to turn their back on the pitch in favor of other sports.

Bixente Lizarazu

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Upon leaving soccer, he trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, becoming European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division in 2009.

Paolo Maldini

(Source)

Widely considered one of the greatest defenders of all time, with a list of accomplishments too long for this article, Maldini went on to become a professional tennis player. With his partner Stefano Landonio, they qualified for the Aspria Tennis Cup in 2017, briefly gaining an ATP tennis ranking. They lost in straight sets, upon which Maldini announced his retirement.

Fabien Barthez

Photo Credit: David Merrett

To add to the myriad soccer victories, the bald and badass Barthez has topped the podium a number of times in various motorsport competitions, most notably as 2013 champion of the French GT circuit.

Petr Čech

Photo credit: Ben Sutherland (Cropped from original)

One of the goalkeeping greats, Čech was readily identifiable for the padded helmet he donned after suffering a life-threatening skull fracture. How he wears even more pads as an ice hockey goalie. Since 2019 he has tended goal for four different English National Ice Hockey sides: Guildford Phoenix, Chelmsford Chieftains, Belfast Giants and current squad Oxford City Stars.

Gareth Bale

During his waning years at Real Madrid, many accused Bale of putting more time on the links than the training pitch. That rumor followed him in his brief loan to Spurs, or his equally short (but impactful) LAFC career. Bale now competes in Pro-Am tournaments.