UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin Makes 1% Charity Pledge as Latest Supporter of Common Goal Project

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has become the latest to endorse Common Goal - common-goal.org - and pledge 1% of his salary to the rapidly growing charitable movement after meeting with Common Goal co-founders Juan Mata and Jürgen Griesbeck at the House of European Football in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon.

Manchester United fan favourite Mata was the first player to sign up to the initiative back in August and has since been followed by the likes of Mats Hummels, Alex Morgan, Shinji Kagawa, Serge Gnabry, and Heather O'Reilly.

Image by Jamie Spencer

UEFA president since September 2016, Ceferin 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 benefitted greatly from football and this way they can give something back.

"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."

Image by Jamie Spencer

Mata himself 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. He is the first football leader to join our cause and I truly hope that many will follow his example."

Meanwhile, streetworldfootball CEO Griesbeck also said, "Football aligned behind a shared vision for good can be incredibly impactful. If everyone gets behind Common Goal, in one way or another, we could change the lives of tens of millions of people across the globe, thanks to a common passion for the game."

Image by Jamie Spencer

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