Italian footballing hero Roberto Baggio is to receive the Nobel Peace Summit Award for his lifetime contribution to charitable work.
He will receive the Award at a special ceremony to be held in Hiroshima on November 14th in memory of victims of the 1945 atomic bombs. The ceremony will form part of the four-day 2010 Nobel Peace Summit meeting in the city, the first time the Summit has taken place outside Europe.
Roberto Baggio [43], affectionately known as the “Divin codino” because of the distinctive ponytail hairstyle he wore for most of his career, has raised money for hospitals, earthquake victims and for charities fighting disease as well as campaigning for the release of Burmese Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The former Juventus and Italy player was FIFA Footballer of the Year in 1993 and remains the only Italian player to have scored in three World Cup tournaments.
Former winners of the Peace Summit Award include Bob Geldof, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, George Clooney and Roberto Benigni.
