Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin joins Juan Mata’s Common Goal project
Boss of European football pledges one per cent of his salary to charity as part of Manchester United star's initiative
JUAN MATA has another recruit to his Common Goal project in the form of Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.
The boss of European football has pledged one per cent of his salary to the Manchester United midfielder's charity initiative.
Mata launched the idea in Augusta, having been inspired to use his fame and wealth to help the under-privileged during a charity visit to India this summer.
Mats Hummels, Duncan Watmore, Serge Gnabry and Charlie Daniels are some of the names to join Mata in the past couple of months.
Shinji Kagawa and Giorgio Chiellini are two big-time players to have also got involved.
And now Ceferin has given the Common Goal project further backing by throwing his weight behind it.
He said: "I firmly believe that football has the power to change the world and I was inspired by Juan Mata to join the Common Goal movement.
"It's great to see a player leading this movement because footballers have benefited greatly from football and this way they can give something back.
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"I call upon everyone in the football family - players, coaches, clubs and leagues - to show they care about social responsibility and donate to causes that they believe in."
Mata, who did not feature in last night's 4-2 win at Watford, added: "I deeply thank Aleksander for the trust he puts in Common Goal and I can only applaud his gesture and agree with his strong conviction that football can help shape a better world.
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"He is the first football leader to join our cause and I truly hope that many will follow his example."
The Common Goal fund is run by the Berlin-based organisation streetfootballworld, which invests in more than 120 football-based charities in 80 countries.