Juan Mata has stated that he will be donating one per cent of his salary to charity
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has stated that he will be donating one per cent of his salary to charity. However, he also called upon other footballers to follow his lead and contribute towards a noble cause and help the world become a better place to live in.
Mata issued the challenge after sharing a short film which was shot during his trip to Mumbai where he visited the slums and interacted with the locals and played street football. “One of the first lessons I learned in football is that it takes a team to win a game”, Mata said and added, “We live by this mantra on the pitch, yet we rarely see it play out in the social impact space, which is dominated by individual initiatives. Through Common Goal we’re creating a collaborative way for football to give back to society. I urge my fellow players to get involved.” “It’s a small gesture that if shared can change the world,” Mata also wrote in a blog for the Player’s Tribune.
Common Goal is a collective fund of 120 charities in 80 countries around the world.
Although Common Goal is launching with a focus on players, its long-term vision is to unlock 1% of the entire football industry’s revenues—conservatively estimated at $30 billion per year—for grassroots football charities that use the game to strengthen their communities.
“Players are a great place to start because they’re the stars of the show,” explains streetfootballworld CEO Jürgen Griesbeck. “But this is the first step of a giant global endeavour. Imagine the entire industry uniting in the name of social change. Together we can usher in a new era for football and forge a deeper sense of purpose at the heart of the game.”
