Dutch football player Clarence Seedorf receives royal decoration in the presence of Berlusconi, now he is AC MILAN COUTH

AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf has been named a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau, bestowed by the Netherlands for his services to football and charity work.

Alphonsus Staelinga, the Dutch ambassador to Italy, presented Seedorf, who is born in Suriname, with the honor in a ceremony on Thursday that was also attended by Milan president and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi (photo AP).

"If he is the coach of AC Milan, he can bring his brother and cousin immediately, we don't mind a little nepotism,” joked Silvio Berlusconi.

Seedorf is the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs—Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and Milan in 2003 and 2007.

In 2005, Seedorf founded the "Champions for Children foundation". He also owns an Italian football club in the serie C.

Asked if he might retire at the end of this season, the 35-year-old Seedorf declined, saying he remains motivated and fit.

Although Seedorf is a hero in Italy he is not very popular in the Netherlands. Although he is regarded as one of the most successful Dutch football players.

The reason why is not very popular is because of his role in a conflict in the Dutch national team during the European football championship in 1996, which eventually led to a dramatic performance in the tournament.

The media saw it as conflict between the black (Surinamese) and the white Dutch players, but it actually was a power struggle over salary within in their club team Ajax.

Meet black Italian visual artist Abiola Wabara

Abiola Wabara was already well know as a basketball player for the Italian national team, but now she is also making name for herself as a visual artist.

Intro Abiola
Abiola Wabara was born October 23rd 1981 to Nigerian parents in Parma Italy. As a child she always had a great passion for art, going to school in Italy art classes were always part of the curriculum, and she always demonstrated great fervor, and a natural talent for the subject.

Abiola attended Baylor University on a full basketball scholarship where she received a bachelor's degree in Spanish, Spanish literature and Culture. After graduating, she started her career as a professional basketball player in Israel, where she played for 3 seasons, then moved to Ibiza Spain and currently playing in Milan Italy. While in Israel she attended the art workshop of famous Israeli artist Eilat Tzin, and developed her skills further.

Abiola likes to focus her work on the diverse aspects of Black culture and tries to capture the beauty of her people and her culture in the works of Black art she creates. Abiola’s artwork is exciting, bold and expressive. Not only is she fascinated by the human form, but emotions, body language and especially eye expressions. Her style, sense of color is eye catching and being noticed by many.

Abiola work was noticed in Ibiza where she was featured on the local newspaper, Nigeria, where she was published in local magazine “Goldmine” and also was exposed in one of the most prestigious art galleries in Milan Italy “il Borgo”. She only prints small numbered limited editions, in order to value the collector. Abiola will be soon show casing her art work in new locations, follow her to find out….

See website www.artbyabiola.com