{"id":19353,"date":"2016-11-30T11:01:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T11:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/?p=19353"},"modified":"2016-11-30T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T11:01:18","slug":"keeping-kash-siddiqi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/30\/keeping-kash-siddiqi\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Up with Kash Siddiqi"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>e were lucky enough to catch up with global footballer Kash Siddiqi and ask him all about his career and charity, Football for Peace. The 30 year old has traveled across the world playing football and spreading his philanthropic message. Meeting the likes of Pope Francis and Prince William, we can see that Kash is definitely going to be one to watch.<\/p>\n

Tell us a little bit about yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Kash Siddiqi and I\u2019m one of the few south Asian footballers from the UK and had the\"joel-bouzou_-hsh-prince-albert_-kashif-siddiqi_-and-lord-sebastian-coe\"<\/a> opportunity to play international football as well. I really put all my achievements down to my Mum and what she\u2019s done for me, helped giving me a platform. Today I\u2019m an international footballer and have founded an international charity. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of meeting Pope Francis, Prince William and am also still passionate about Asians in football and trying to promote equality and trying to bring more Asians into this industry.<\/p>\n

What gave you inspiration to start football for peace? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up in England is the perfect nation for football. It\u2019s every young boy\u2019s dream to try and get to the top level because as soon as you\u2019re there, it\u2019s all about the football and glamour and I guess it started off a hobby. It didn\u2019t turn into anything until I got scouted for the team. Before that, my Mum always used to take me to Sunday league games and she was really inspirational and gave me the platform to star off. She didn\u2019t really know how to do it either but she\u2019d be there rain, snow, sunshine, she would always be there on the side. I think once things started developing it was a lot easier then.<\/p>\n

How can Football for Peace help people? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Being from a British Muslim background, I think Football for peace especially with what I\u2019m trying to do, is really promote integration in society because I really feel that society\u2019s isolated today including the youth. And it\u2019s a key issue in what we\u2019re facing in the world today you know with the fighting, wars, misunderstanding and extremism. I think that if children are all brought together from a young age to mix like I was, its gives you a whole different perspective and that\u2019s why I think sports diplomacy is really key.<\/p>\n

Was it ever overwhelming, did you think you\u2019d get to where you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been a struggle. The journey\u2019s been quite incredible, especially with me\"world-faith-leaders-with-gianfranco-ravasi_president-of-the-pontifical-council-for-culture_kashifsiddiqi-at-the-vatican-2016\"<\/a> being from a South Asian background. There\u2019s not many role models out there in sports. I still have the \u2018pinch myself\u2019 moments, like 2 weeks ago I was in the Vatican with Pope Francis and I was thinking again wow. It\u2019s nuts but I think if you have the right intentions in life, if you have desire and faith to do something, it always works out in the end. It\u2019s never easy and I think that my journeys been overwhelming but I think it\u2019s really taken off. Now I know it\u2019s something big and that it\u2019s just about going to the next stage. I\u2019m keen to still carry on with my career as well.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it only takes one person to break the barrier and make someone think that they can do what you do as well right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sporting aspects in life give you confidence, self-esteem, dialog, and I think when you haven\u2019t got that in your life regularly, it can lead to other thinks that make you think otherwise, you can be vulnerable to situations that otherwise you wouldn\u2019t get into.<\/p>\n

How do you keep yourself so down to earth and avoid being swept about in the fame and glamour of it all?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t even think about that side because growing up, especially in the football world I\u2019ve \"kash4\"<\/a>always been around the footballers. So now when I\u2019m meeting the likes of Ronaldinho or Pele, to me he just a footballer, even though he\u2019s a legend! The way I see it, because I have a mission, there no point meeting someone or getting to know someone if it doesn\u2019t meet the purpose of what I\u2019m trying to do. For me it\u2019s never been about that, Mum\u2019s always brought me up to be someone with the vision that you should never look at what someone else has, you should always look at what they don\u2019t have. And that\u2019s really been the core of how I think and to remember to always appreciate what we have.<\/p>\n

Seeing as playing football is your job, do you ever get to play it for fun?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh it\u2019s so stressful! You know it\u2019s funny because when I\u2019m playing you don\u2019t actually enjoy it, you start to hate the job and it because so hard and stressful. To give you a rundown of my day: I wake up and eat breakfast then I\u2019m out the door to the training ground. Then I get there and start activation and training, have lunch and start training again. Then you come home and you\u2019re so tired and you still have to warm up and then I also have my charity stuff that I do and it\u2019s such a hard routine. The fun is definitely taken out of it but sometimes when I\u2019m with my friends and it\u2019s away from seasons I can have those opportunities where I can just have fun.<\/p>\n

Did you dream about wanting to be a footballer since you were young?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was so close to football that I wanted to do really well in my career, I always wanted to do \"h-e-mr-nassir-abdulaziz-al-nasser_-mohammed-hanzab-and-kashif-siddiqi-speak-in-istanbul-on-on-youth-preventing-extremism\"<\/a>something over and beyond. Do something for the world. I think football for me has been a journey and it\u2019s given me the platform to do what I\u2019m doing today and I don\u2019t know where that\u2019s going to take me now, but let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n

If you could change your career path or do something else, what would you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0I would\u2019ve said that I\u2019d like to go into International Relations, but I\u2019ve done that anyway by creating Football for Peace. I\u2019ve always been interested in political aspects of the world and what\u2019s happening, the wars, the lobbying process. You know like House of Cards? I love that. It\u2019s strange because I\u2019ve created Football for Peace and it\u2019s a diplomatic sport so it fits in with football and diplomacy in today\u2019s world. Aside from that, can\u2019t sing, can\u2019t act, so I don\u2019t know what else I\u2019d do.<\/p>\n

Is there anything that you\u2019re hoping to achieve through your charity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Locally, with KSF Nationwide Academy I want to inspire young Asians and get them into football. Internationally, I want Football for Peace to be the United Nations of world football and that\u2019s the kind of aspiration, now we\u2019re getting the big leaders, head of states supports because we\u2019re getting the best players for example. It\u2019ll be easier for us to move the ball off the pitch and deliver our world message.<\/p>\n

On a lighter note, we wanted to congratulate you on your wedding to Emily, what was the highlight of the whole wedding for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s so many parts to it! I think for one, it was the most stressful thing I\u2019ve ever been \"800-x-600-kash-and-emily2\"<\/a>through. It\u2019s been incredible and I\u2019ve been through a lot of stress in my life! But I think the highlight was really what I stand for, which was bringing together so many people from different cultures, faiths, walks of life that all came together for the wedding. Emily\u2019s obviously English, so her family coming together with mine. The different cultures. I think that was the most amazing part. Taking that with the memory of so many people that came from Australia and America, so we\u2019ve got those amazing memories.<\/p>\n

If you were stuck on an island and could only take 3 things with you, what would they be? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay so I won\u2019t have reception there. So I\u2019ll take\u2026can I take a human? I\u2019ll take my mum, my wife and a prayer matt.<\/p>\n

If you had a film made about your life, who would you like to play yourself in it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A celebrity right now\u2026but they\u2019d have to be Asian!<\/p>\n

Oh, well pick anyone and we could just make him super tanned!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Super tanned, great! I\u2019m trying to think of someone young out there right now. There\u2019s so many great older actors out there who just wouldn\u2019t fit the bill.<\/p>\n

What about any favourite shows or movies? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Titanic. Definitely Titanic! I\u2019ve actually watched it 6 time, mad isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 I also love Power. But I mean I can\u2019t really relate it to my life or career with the whole drug aspect. But I think that guys a good actor, the one who plays Ghost, I don\u2019t think he\u2019 be a perfect fit for me but let\u2019s just go with it!<\/p>\n

Is there anything that people don\u2019t know about you, or would be surprised to hear about you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you asked this question to Emily, you\u2019d get lots of answers! I\u2019m like a big baby, and that\u2019s what Emily would say about me too, I\u2019m such a baby. Just like a massive kid at heart, with some of the things I do and say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were lucky enough to catch up with global footballer Kash Siddiqi and ask him all about his career and charity, Football for Peace. The 30 year old has traveled across the world playing football and spreading his philanthropic message. Meeting the likes of Pope Francis and Prince William, we can see that Kash is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":19367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,53,38,3,27,112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-latest","category-national-news","category-news","category-sport","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}