Juan Mata’s generous gesture
The Spanish soccer star has been lauded for pledging 1% of his salary to football charities
FLASHY cars, exotic holidays, designer clothes and monstrous mansions – soccer players are notorious for living all-about-me lifestyles fuelled by eye-wateringly lucrative endorsements and salaries that could sustain a small country. But every now and then someone comes along to break the mould. And right now that accolade belongs to a young man named Juan Mata, one of the stars of Manchester United. He’s all about giving back – and he hopes he can inspire his superstar comrades to do the same.
The 29-year-old midfielder wants to transform what it means to be a world-famous footballer – one percent at a time. “I’m pledging 1% of my salary to Common Goal, a collective fund that supports football charities around the globe,” he writes in a heartfelt blog post that’s making waves around the globe. “It’s a small gesture that if shared can change the world. I’m leading this effort but I don’t want to be alone.”
The Spanish midfielder joined United from Chelsea for £37,1 million (then R667 million) in 2014, earns £7 million (about R122,5 million) a year, according to BBC Sport – so his 1% is certainly nothing to be sneezed at.
Common Goal is a collective fund run by NGO Streetfootballworld, a group of 120 charities in 80 countries. His ultimate objective is to launch a Common Goal starting XI made up of 11 players who each donate 1% of their wage to the charity.
In the wake of the backlash the soccer world has faced for its latest record-breaking transfer deal, which saw former Barcelona star Neymar make the move to Paris Saint-Germain (YOU, 17 August) for a shocking £200 million (R3,5 billion), Mata’s plan to give back couldn’t have come at a better time. “Football sometimes has a bad reputation,” Mata says in his candid post. “Some of that’s deserved and some of it isn’t.”
“There’s a huge amount of money in the game, it’s true. I’m not criticising that. If these salaries and transfer fees are paid it’s because they can be. Compared to almost all other areas of society there’s a lot of money, [and] when you work in an industry – any industry – and you want a pay raise, you compare yourself to what others in your industry are earning.
“Football generates a lot of money but there has to be a social responsibility that goes
with that. It can positively affect people’s lives. It can help and that helps football too.”
IT’S no surprise that when young men – some barely out of their teens – get their big break in the beautiful game, lavish living quickly becomes the new norm. But this was never the case with the sensible Spaniard, whose first brush with success came from something far less glamorous.
“The first autograph I ever signed wasn’t because I was good at football,” he reveals in his blog. “It was actually because I was really good at trivia – like general academic questions, but harder.” When he was 13 he and his trivia team won a regional competition. “We ended up winning, and the next day all the younger kids at school wanted our autographs.”
The teenage Juan and his team got to travel to Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland – which opened the youngster’s eyes to a whole new world.
“That trip was my first time really getting to see how people in other countries lived. At such a young age, it gave me a different perspective on the world. I didn’t know everything. But I knew I wanted to see more. When I was 15, football gave me that chance.”
He was playing for a youth team in his hometown, Oviedo, in northwestern Spain when he caught the eye of a Real Madrid scout. After a long, hard chat with his close-knit family, Mata set off for Real Madrid’s youth academy, La Fábrica.
“It was hard for my mom and dad to just send me off to a big city like Madrid, but our family has this saying: ‘Sometimes the train doesn’t come twice in life’.”
Mata did well to leap on that train. He went from strength to strength and was eventually scooped up by Spanish club Valencia in 2007.
Despite being on his way to the big league, he remained modest. Being away from home made him realise how many sacrifices his parents and grandparents had made to get him to where he wanted to be.
“I realised I had a responsibility to them to work hard and make the most of my chance.”
Chelsea came knocking in 2011, signing Mata in a £23,5 million (then about R294 million) deal. Several successful years at Stamford Bridge followed until Manchester United made Chelsea an offer they couldn’t refuse. They let Mata go for what was then a record United transfer fee.
THROUGHOUT it all, Mata’s family were by his side – especially his grandfather who was his biggest fan. “He never missed a match of my professional career,” the blue-eyed star says. “I remember calling him one night when I was struggling and I’ll never forget what he said. ‘Your football and your career, Juan, they give me life. I feel so proud and I’m filled with hope when I watch you.’
“That call had a tremendous impact on me – and on the way I thought about football. What I was doing in my career wasn’t just about me. It was about us. I was playing because I brought joy to people in different ways than just by scoring goals.
“My grandfather was the living embodiment of this feeling and after I realised that, I made sure to keep that thought with me at all times.”
Mata also spoke of the grief he felt when his grandfather died in February this year – and how the United fans helped him through. “I flew to Spain to go to his funeral a short time later. When I came back to Manchester and turned on my phone, I saw all the messages from the United supporters on social media – and it meant the world to me. I wish I could’ve hugged everyone who reached out to me.” Still reeling from the loss of his hero he travelled to Mumbai, India, to visit a charity and was struck by the poverty in the city. “But then we started interacting with the local kids,” he recalls. “I’m not sure all of them even knew that I was a football player but we communicated through laughter and the game. If I smiled, they smiled. If I ran, they ran. “They knew we were there to help and there was this tangible energy in the air. And I think in the same way that I gave my grandfather life – these children were giving me life.” It was this experience and the incredible love and support of his family that made Mata want to share his success. “I thought about what I wanted my legacy to be. I knew how lucky I was to have the opportunities I’d had – and that not everyone has a family like mine.” “And even though I’ve been engaged with charities before, I knew that I wanted to do something more. “I want to make sure other kids get the chances I had.”