Spaniard gets straight to heart of the Mata for good cause

JUAN Mata has called on football figures to use the coronavirus crisis as a ‘catalyst’ and address other challenges facing the most vulnerable communities.

United forward Mata, 31, donates one per cent of his salary to football-based charities as part of the Common Goal initiative that started in 2017, and the organisation has created a COVID-19 response fund amid the pandemic.

The response fund aims to help people in deprived communities and conflict settings dealing with the immediate effects of the pandemic and ensure support continues beyond the initial response.

The fund will use Common Goal’s network of community organisations in 90 countries, which serves over two million vulnerable children, inviting those in the football industry and the general public to make a positive impact on those affected by the coronavirus.

Common Goal have introduced a Live Match platform, in which players ‘commit the 90 minutes they are no longer spending on the pitch to create positive outcomes’.

Mata will engage with the Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry on Instagram in the first live match tonight, and will host another Common Goal Live Match in Spanish later this month.

Mata, Gnabry, United legend Eric Cantona, and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini have recorded videos imploring leaders to provide collective solutions.

Mata said: “It’s been heartening to see many positive responses from players and other football leaders to the current crisis, but it can be also hard to know what to do to help effectively those who need it most.

“We are suffering a stark reminder of how interdependent we all are. We need to coordinate individual efforts and work together as a team. I’m urging not only my Common Goal team-mates, but also all other players and football leaders to tackle this crisis.”