Life After Football: Neven Subotić - "I asked myself why this world is so unfair"
Even when he was busy underpinning a Borussia Dortmund team that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles under Jürgen Klopp in 2011 and 2012, Neven Subotić was always thinking about how he could give back to society, not just then but for years to come.
In our series Life After Football, bundesliga.com speaks to several legends about their time in the game and how their lives have changed since hanging up their boots.
bundesliga.com: What motivated you to set up the Neven Subotić Foundation in 2012?
Neven Subotić: "I'd already been involved with various charitable organisations in previous years. When I moved from Mainz to Dortmund in 2008, I found one, ‘Kinderlachen’, before I even had my own flat. Sure, it was cool, it made sense, but at some point I wondered how much influence I was really exerting with those kind of ambassadorial activities. It has an effect on the public when a professional footballer hands out pens and scarves in a children's hospital, but in essence, it was always very little that just looked like a lot. That didn't fulfil my own expectations. I wanted to do something that I could really be proud of."
bundesliga.com: What happened next?
Subotić: "I discussed it with my friends, who eventually advised me to set up my own foundation instead of continuing to criticise and doubt others. I liked the idea."
bundesliga.com: That's pretty rare in top-level football. How did you cope with it?
Subotić: "I've always been someone who observes rather than judges. I found it exciting to move in two worlds. On the one hand, football, where money's no object and the most important questions are: Who wears what clothes, who drives what car, who has what grade in kicker [magazine] and which is the tastiest Italian in town? On the other hand, my everyday life off the pitch, where I asked myself why this world is so unfair and how it can be that so many people don't have access to clean water or education. I'm a no-nonsense type and try to find solutions."
bundesliga.com: In your heyday with Dortmund, you were considered one of the best defenders in Europe. What qualities as a footballer have helped you in your work with the foundation?
Subotić: "Certainly my work ethic, which has helped me to get the most out of my limited talent. Also the ability not only to cope with isolation and loneliness, but also to utilise it. As a professional, you work a lot in a team, but you also spend a lot of time on your own and have to motivate yourself. Whether in strength training, during rehab or in the hotel before the next away game. These days, I spend a lot of time working from home. You can use this time or not. What fascinated me as a footballer was the constant competition. Overcoming hurdles, the mindset of constant improvement. This is also very helpful in a job that is concerned with doing something about the huge need in the world. Many people want to talk about this work and support it, but it only becomes exhausting when you actually do something. As a footballer, I've learnt to deal with resistance and to withstand pressure. With every new project, I expect it to be exhausting. I would be pretty surprised if it wasn't."
Watch: The best of Neven Subotic in the Bundesliga
bundesliga.com: You didn't mention the experience of being a team player...
Subotić: "I'm always a bit wary of this comparison. Every company would like to identify itself with a functioning football team, but if the atmosphere in the office was like in a stadium, we would have conditions like in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. Where else do 80,000 people cheer when you do your job, where else does your boss shout in your face from a metre away during a break? I learnt about teamwork outside of football from books. That made more sense."
bundesliga.com: Let's move on to your foundation, which has been called the ‘well:fair foundation’ since 2023. If a primary school child asked you what you actually do, what would your answer be?
Subotić: "We help people to get access to drinking water and toilets. Clean water is a human right and access to it is the basis for a healthy and dignified life. We also help children to go to school because they don't have to spend six hours a day travelling to fetch water. Unfortunately, this is still a bitter reality for more than 700 million people around the world."
bundesliga.com: You've earned millions, won titles with BVB, reached the UEFA Champions League final - and today you deal full-time with major social disasters and hardship, regularly meeting people who have lost everything. How do you deal with it?
Subotić: "I have learnt this from outstanding people. The trick is not to put yourself at the centre of all the suffering. Sure, you have to protect yourself, but what I feel at the moment when I realise that people have died, starved or died of thirst is not relevant in this case. My feelings don't change reality. It's about focussing on what I can change, where I can help in concrete terms. Last November, I met with employees of our foundation in Tigray, in the north of Ethiopia, where a terrible civil war has been raging since 2020, the consequences of which have already killed a tenth of the population living there - the largest death toll in the 21st century. We sat in a room with 10 people, many of whom had lost sisters, brothers, parents, friends or relatives. And these people still managed not to focus on their own emotions, but to develop a mentality that can be roughly summarised as follows: 'We are the lucky ones who are still alive, what can we do now? We are the strong ones - what burden can we carry?' I learn from these people."
bundesliga.com: What goes into these kind of projects?
Subotić: "First of all, it's about fundraising, and someone has to make the donations. Once the money is there, we start planning with our local partners. Where is what possible and how? Then we organise the necessary materials and mobilise people. Contacts are established with the relevant community and partners. Once all the preparations have been made, wells are drilled. This takes around two to three days, and the wells are drilled to a depth of 200 metres. From there, pumps and pipes are laid, and finally extraction points, which should be accessible to everyone in the community within 15 minutes. We are also making sure that the quality of the water is good - we want to promote health, not challenge it. In addition, there are sanitary facilities for girls and boys in the schools, and we also have to endeavour to provide training, maintenance and management of the facilities and instill the expertise on site. And at the very end there is the inauguration ceremony."
bundesliga.com: You retired from football in 2022. What does football mean to you today?
Subotić: "People are always surprised when I tell them that I no longer watch the Bundesliga. No Champions League, no (FIFA) Club World Cup either. What continues to fascinate me about football is its unifying character. When people approach me and tell me how they cheered at the championship celebrations in 2011 and 2012 and what that meant to them, it makes me happy. These are meaningful values, much more important than tackles, goals, titles and bonuses. The same applies to many of my team-mates from back then, who I'm still in contact with today. They are my brothers and I will always feel connected to them. And yet I no longer go to the stadium or play for the all-star teams. I wouldn't have time for that either."
bundesliga.com: You were one of the cornerstones of the Dortmund team under Jürgen Klopp that shaped an entire generation of football fans. Do these sporting successes not mean anything to you now?
Subotić: "I think it's wonderful that I was able to have these experiences. But on the whole: What do goals and victories on the football pitch mean? These experiences are a part of me and always will be, but I define myself more by my contribution to society. I want to make a difference, that's more important to me than any championship or international match. A story comes to mind: A few years ago, I saw one of my colleagues watching a video of his best goals and dribbles on his mobile phone in the dressing room before training. I won't say who it was, but it was an outstanding player. That sight made me sad."
bundesliga.com: I assume you don't watch videos with titles like 'Neven Subotić's best tackles'?
Subotić: "I have an eight-year-old football-mad nephew, so I like to watch that for him. It's like a video game, I tell him. Only nicer. But I don't need it myself."
bundesliga.com: You were 23 years old when you set up your foundation. What are your future plans?
Subotić: "The foundation remains the be-all and end-all. We want to reach one million people with our work by 2030. I also enjoy the fact that I have only recently learnt what it means to have arrived. I've moved 27 times in my life, and I've been living in my flat in Dortmund for a year now. Families I am friends with live below and above me. I love living in Dortmund, I love my neighbourhood. And I enjoy approaching new people and talking to them. As a professional, I used to get annoyed when people approached me. All of this is a huge personal milestone for me."
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