Given that it's an election week in Ireland and at FIFA for that matter, even sport can't be immune from politics.
Thus we'll treat to visions of global politicians and leaders who have given the playing side of football a chance.
Take, Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, who happens to be a fan of hometown Fiorentina. He used to play futsal back in his younger days (granted he's still relatively young at 41) and also was an amateur referee at one point.
Here is a video he posted of himself playing in a charity match back in 2007:
French president Francois Hollande might lack Zidane-like elegance when you take his playing style into account but at least he gave it a go in a charity match in aid of Alzheimers awareness:
Bolivian president Evo Morales is a noted aficionado of the game and still plays as often as he can in his favoured No 10 role:
Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan used to be a semi-pro footballer and could have signed for Istanbul giants Fenerbahce only for his father to object. He's still a handy player, scoring a 15 minute hat-trick in a charity match in 2014:
Boris Johnson was not hugely charitable when he made this excuse for a tackle in an exhibition game between England and Germany:
And of course, Muammar Gaddafi's son made it all the way to Serie A and was later voted the worst player Italian football has ever seen:
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