Michael Essien
Didier Drogba
Two of Chelsea's biggest Premier League stars lent their vocals to a new single that hopes to raise awareness of racism in Europe and elsewhere while raising money to combat childhood cancer.
Midfielder Michael Essien and striker Didier Drogba's charity single "Skin" went on sale last week, with all proceeds going to CLIC Sargent, a children's cancer charity in the UK.
The song, written and performed by Wills and the Willing, was released to coincide with Chelsea's anti-racism activites during a week of action by football's anti-racism and inclusion campaign, Kick It Out.
A video of the song can be seen here:
Essien is a native of Ghana, while Drogba is from the Ivory Coast.
'I got involved because it's a very good thing, and we need to kick racism out of football," Essien said in a release on www.chelseafc.com. "It touches my heart to get involved."
"Both Michael and Didier did a fantastic job," said singer Ian Wills. "The day we recorded the track, Chelsea had just won the Carling Cup. I was most surprised by nobody talking about football, just listening to the track and wanting to put their bits into it."
Essien also backed suggestions that punishments be heavier for those clubs whose fans engage in racist behavior, and recalled again how it feels to be the victim of racist abuse.
"It has happened to me before, in France when I was at Bastia," he said in the release. "I've got a bad temper sometimes, it gets me really angry. I try to control myself because I don't want to get in a fight or something. I've never experienced it before in England, but it happens outside England, especially more in Spain, so if we can help to kick it out that would be a very good thing."
Chelsea currently stands fourth in the Premier League standings with 21 points, behind Arsenal (26), Manchester United (26) and Manchester City (22).
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