While Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba is sequestered away with his teammates in a luxury hotel for the African Cup of Nations, his mother, Clotilde is preparing traditional west African meals in an outdoor kitchen for a group of 60 fans who traveled to Equatorial Guinea for the tournament.

Any one who follows Mario Balotelli's career knows his slogan, "Why Always Me?" Well some English rapper was inspired by this and has now penned a song about him. The Italian striker decide to take advantage of this situation by creating a t-shirt with the help of Umbro. The proceeds of the shirt will go to a charity of Balotelli's choice and the song will be featured in an upcoming campaign.

In 2007, David Beckham transferred to the Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid, for a reported $250 million in total potential earnings over a five-year deal, including endorsements. Has He Delivered What the L.A. Galaxy Paid Millions For?

Why Giggs and Bale must go for gold

Football simply has not got it yet. The game as a whole has not realised just how big the Olympics will be. Big name players in the Premier League have got the multi-million pound contracts, the endorsements, they have played for their respective countries and have won trophies.

USMNT player Carlos Bocanegra poses for Pepsi Max campaign. The Californian native posted this via his twitter account.

In case you've been longing to be reminded of how rich and desired David Beckham remains, fret not: he's still the business.

Or he still is business. And the business keeps building and building despite the rings on the tree growing and growing. His endorsement income is now up 30% from last year, despite coming that much closer to retirement.

Nice work if you can get it, but then you can't because you're not David Beckham. Given these figures wonder if he ever got close to that $250 million in total income over the five years of his contract with MLS:

LONDON (AP) -- David Beckham's income from personal sponsorship deals rose by 30 percent last year, signaling the enduring strength of the Galaxy player's brand appeal.

If it were not already apparent, success of the modern game is dependent on corporate funding and owner investments.
The growth of the game would be quite different if not for sponsors and external funding. From the naming rights of many stadia to the field boards and club kits, the branding from corporations is near impossible to ignore.

Heather O'Reilly of the women's World Cup team on coming in second place in the World Cup and how much money she lost in potential endorsements by not winning.

The U.S. women's soccer team might have just left $10 million in endorsements on the table after Sunday's shocking loss to Japan in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Goalie Hope Solo and forward Abby Wambach have been getting a lot of attention for their play with the U.S. National Team in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, much of it having to do with winning games, followed by potential marketing deals and endorsements they might garner.

To find out which athletic organizations shell out the most dough, we surveyed 272 teams in 14 major pro leagues, covering seven sports, spanning 10 countries, comprising 7,802 athletes making a combined $15.2 billion in salary. Our final numbers, below, were compiled by Nick Harris, editor of sportingintelligence.

Renault has teamed up with Thierry Henry again. The New York Red Bulls player first endorsed the car manufacturer back in 2001 where he starred alongside his now ex-wife. The new advert features Dita Von Tease along with clips from famous films and oddly Rihanna. The ad asks us, "What is Va Va Voom?" Perhaps, this ad?

Qatar's winning bid to hold the 2022 World Cup was marked by a spending spree that included investments in the home countries of several executives who were responsible for choosing the host nation, according to internal documents from the emirate's bidding committee.

The spending sheds light on how FIFA regulations—outlined in the two-page rules of conduct for World Cup host-nation bidding—left the door open for hopefuls to open wallets to exert indirect influence on international soccer's small circle of decision-makers.