Sports legends whose political fortunes may be a lesson to Riner ahead of presidential bid

French judo legend Teddy Riner's announcement that he will participate as a candidate in next year's French presidential election might have been drawn scepticism from some, but he is not the first sports star to reach high office.

Imran Khan (Cricket)

The charismatic Pakistani captain led his country to their sole Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.

It was a very personal triumph when he used his £90,000 ($121,000) prize money and high profile to raise the funds to build a cancer hospital – free of charge to patients – named after his mother Shaukat Khanum, who died from the illness in 1985.

When the hospital opened in 1994, Khan said: "It was a feeling of triumph within the country. It was like winning another World Cup ".

The Oxford graduate may have thought the volatile Pakistani dressing room was the ideal learning ground for domestic politics, but he suffered a torrid political career.

Elected an MP in 2002, he became prime minister in 2018 and ruled till 2022. In November of te same year, he was wounded in the leg in an assassination attempt.

Khan has been behind bars since August 2023, facing scores of charges ranging from corruption to inciting violence, following widespread anti-establishment riots in May that year.

Now 74, Khan has said his imprisonment is politically motivated.

He has received public support, with 14 former national cricket captains and numerous academics and intellectuals calling for his release in February this year.

George Weah (Football)

Outstanding Liberian striker who starred for Monaco, where he played under Arsene Wenger who turned him into the player he became as his stardom rocketed at Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan .

He won the Ballon D'Or and was also FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995 – the first African to achieve that double.

Having departed the football stage, his next goal became the Liberian presidency, following a tumultuous and violent era in the West African country which had witnessed two civil wars.

During his first tilt, aged 39 in 2005, he became the subject of patronising remarks, dubbed a "babe in the woods" due to his inexperience and his lack of education was mocked.

He lost in a run-off.
Elected senator in 2014 – defeating the son of the president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who had beaten him in the 2005 election – Weah made history as the first Liberian sportsman to be elected to the upper house.

He triumphed further when he won the 2017 presidential election after trouncing his opponent in the second round.

The electorate of Africa 's oldest republic went on to deny him a second term, when he lost narrowly to Joseph Boakai, whom he had beaten in 2017.

Weah, whose government had been accused of corruption despite his pledge to eradicate it, said: "This is the time for graciousness in defeat."

Manny Pacquiao (Boxing)

The Filipino boxing icon who was crowned world champion in several weight divisions is the first pugilist to hold world titles across four decades.

Somehow he managed to combine his boxing career with a political one. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, having lost in 2007, and was re-elected in 2013.

"It just needs discipline. You just need time management," he said of balancing the two vocations.

Critics, though, pointed to the lack of parliamentary bills he authored and his frequent absences from the legislature so he could spend time sparring and fighting.

Like in his career in the ring, Pacquiao was not content to rest on his laurels at one weight – he then went for the Senate.

Again he was successful, being elected in 2016, and among the proposals he supported was the restoration of capital punishment.

Still mixing his two careers, Pacquiao had a tilt at the presidency, but he failed to land a knockout punch and finished as a well-beaten third in the 2022 election.

Although he had been vituperative about winner Ferdinand Marcos during the election, the latter was magnanimous and in the same year appointed Pacquiao secretary and lead convenor of the Philippines Anti-Poverty Commission.

"I also experienced poverty," Pacquiao said on being appointed.

"I experienced sleeping on cardboard on the streets, consuming only water, having nothing to eat and earning coins just to help my family."

"Our poor countrymen are really in my heart."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)