'Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær is probably the best known Norwegian in the world thanks to his association with the leading English soccer club. While recovering from a long-term injury Solskjær has found a new interest, helping schoolchildren in Eritrea, newspaper VG reports.
Solskjær is probably best remembered for the winning goal in Manchester United's miracle comeback against Bayern München in the Champions League 1998/99 final.
Solskjær has decided to donate all of the proceeds from his equipment deal with shoe producer Nike - estimated to be worth NOK 700,000 (USD 104,000) per year - as well as a NOK 300,000 deal earned promoting brunost - brown cheese - for dairy giant TINE to UNICEF.
VG said that Solskjær would donate his income from these projects as long as he was injured.
"As far as I know this is unique. I have never heard of anything like it before and Solskjær doing this commands massive respect," said Reidar Skorpen at Nike Norway.
Solskjær did not want to discuss the matter and preferred all attention to be given to Nike and UNICEF.
According to VG's sources Solskjær did not want to collect money from Nike while he was unable to play. The money donated by the footballer is just short of that needed to build a UNICEF school in Eritrea, and Solskjær is part of a project to raise funds to construct nine schools there.
"Not just in Norway, this is something special in all of Europe. We are tremendously impressed by his dedication. He is a great sportsman, no less so for doing this," Skorpen told VG.
"He's our golden boy and the fantastic thing is that this is all his initiative, something he would rather not mention. He came to us and said he wanted to raise money for schools. We wondered how he would do this, and he mentioned his Nike contract," said UNICEF secretary general Kjersti Gjestvang.