USA's O'Reilly Among 6 Women's Stars Joining Juan Mata's Common Goal Pledge
Six leading female footballers from the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Manchester City are the latest to give their support to the Common Goal initiative - common-goal.org - and pledge 1% of their salary to football charities around the world.
2015 World Cup winner and Arsenal forward Heather O'Reilly, Barcelona number 10 Olga Garcia, PSG attacker Vero Boquete, decorated new Manchester City signing Pauline Bremer, Crystal Palace's Jean Sseninde, and Nicole Regnier of America de Cali in Colombia have all joined.
Manchester United star Juan Mata got the ball rolling in August, with 18 individuals from both the men's and women's game now signed up to donate their 1%. American superstars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe were the first female players to back Common Goal.
"Today's announcement serves as yet another example of the power football has to bring people together," explained O'Reilly, who has a longstanding track record of supporting football charities such as America Scores and Right to Play.
"What we have here is a mix of players from around the world, with a wide range of backgrounds, each with her own unique story, but each with a passion to give back. Through a shared love of football, we've now come together behind this collective vision to use the game as a force for good."
O'Reilly's ex-USWNT colleague Morgan said, "I see this as a landmark moment for Common Goal. The fact that we've seen six players from all over the world come together behind a shared vision of the game speaks volumes to the what we're looking to achieve. I'm thrilled to welcome them to the team and look forward to announcing many more in the near future."
Boquete has played for clubs in Spain, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Germany and France during her long career, even captaining her country at the 2015 World Cup.
"I think it's important that women's football is properly represented in the Common Goal team during these early stages, which is why I'm so pleased to be joining the movement alongside this international mix of leaders from the female game," the 30 year-old said.
"I really believe in the power of sport in general, and football in particular, to drive lasting social change. This is why I'm committed to Common Goal, and why I hope we can set an example for many others to follow."
On the subject of the six new 1% pledges, Mata stated, "I think we can say Common Goal has gone truly global today.
"To welcome six players from five countries and four continents, all with the courage to drive forward the movement in their respective regions of the world, is a proud moment for myself and the rest of the team."
Common Goal is the work of streetworldfootball, an NGO that has helped develop and support a global network of 120 local football charities over the last 15 years - working to positively affect the lives of some 2.3m disadvantaged young people at community level in as many as 80 countries worldwide, from India, to Colombia, to Germany, the United States and many more.
Ultimately, the long-term vision of Common Goal is to unlock 1% of the entire football industry's enormous revenue - conservatively believed to be worth around $30bn per year - to help fund grassroots charities that use football to strengthen communities.
Learn more at www.streetfootballworld.org
