Italian soccer legend and former FIFA World Player of the Year, Roberto Baggio, a convert to Buddhism, has won this year's World Peace Award, an annual award bestowed by Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
A former idol known as Il Divin Codino, Baggio is one of many footballers who use his publicity to help launch campaigns and generate money to put to good cause. The ex-Juventus and Italy hero has helped fund money for hospitals, earthquake victims and curing world diseases.
He involved himself in the fight against bird flu. He joined the pro-democracy movement for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar.