Gabonese international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang says the youth of the Commonwealth must work tirelessly and believe in themselves to achieve their dreams.

The Chelsea striker made this call while speaking at a Marlborough Get-Together event in London on Friday night as part of activities laid out for the Commonwealth Year of Youth 2023. Several young leaders, scholars, change-makers from across member states were present at the event.

“You are the future,” the 33-year-old told the young attendees at the event. “The beginning of my career was very tough; I had many bad moments.

“Everyone was telling me that I was not a goal scorer. Those words gave me the power to work even harder to achieve my goals.”

“Today, I am very happy where I am,” he said about his life journey to serve as motivation to the over 1.5 billion Commonwealth youths.

Aubameyang invited participants to visit his country, Gabon, which recently joined the Commonwealth last year, urging them to see the cuisines, natural beauty of the Central African nation. He also talked about various other topics including sport, activism, racism, education, diversity and lots more.

Speaking about racism and discrimination, he said: “I have been through it [racism] myself.” But said: “We are in 2023. It is time to grow up and time to not be silent about racism … We have to be accountable to each other. We can achieve great things together. The colour of one’s skin does not matter. And I am living proof of this.”

“When you go to a football game, you see thousands of people from different backgrounds cheering for the same team, this is an example of unity which the sport is able to bring about,” Aubameyang reiterated about the importance of sport in bringing people from different backgrounds together.

Commonwealth Assistant Secretary-General Luis Franceschi while speaking after the event praised Aubameyang for being a role model and also hailed the ex-Barcelona player for values and social inclusion which are in alignment to that of the Commonwealth.

“Aubameyang’s commitment to youth and social inclusion aligns with the Commonwealth values. We hope his inspiring words would serve as a guiding light for young people, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and make even more meaningful contributions to their communities.”