Editorial
Social skills
Juan Mata’s recent pledge highlighted the good that could be done by a more responsible football industry
As the enduring popularity of an absurd phrase like “champagne socialist” shows, there’s little that annoys some people more than a public figure with a lot of money who supports social causes. The implication is that they are being hypocritical in some way, expressing phoney concern for the poor while enjoying trappings of a rich lifestyle. Periodically the expression gets bandied about in football and it has cropped up regularly as part of the abuse heaped on Gary Lineker – by no means a radical – whenever he has made criticisms on social media of the current government or some of its supporters. It may be the fear of enduring a similar critical pile-on in the media that continues to deter footballers here from getting involved in social initiatives generally, bar turning up to occasional charity functions.
ertainly it is striking that none has so far been prepared to follow a laudable example set by Juan Mata. In early August, Mata announced that he is to commit one per cent of his salary – he is said to earn around £140,000 a week at Manchester United – to a fund called Common Goal which links up 120 football charities for disadvantaged children worldwide. Speaking at a charity launch in India, Mata said he was hoping to create a “starting XI” of players who would promote the initiative worldwide: “By making the pledge, we can form a lasting connection between football as a business and football as a tool for social change.” Common Goal estimated that £30 billion could be raised annually if the football industry as a whole paid one per cent of its profits into a central fund. As this would involve contributions being made by club executives, FIFA administrators and players’ agents, the chances of that target being reached would appear to be slim. But huge sums could still be raised by contributions just from top-level footballers in the major leagues, although to date, Bayern Munich midfielder Mats Hummels is the only player to sign up to the scheme.
Mata announced that he is to commit one per cent of his salary to a fund called Common Goal ata has spoken before about discomfort with his own earnings, telling a Spanish magazine in 2016 that “I live in a bubble. It scares me sometimes to think about just how protected I am.” The fact that almost all Premier League players, and some in the Championship, will earn more in a week than most spectators get paid in a year adds an extra edge to the invective aimed at them these days, especially whenever they can be held responsible for their team dropping points. It wasn’t long ago that most footballers lived alongside some of the people who came to watch them. They might have moved up the social ladder a bit, but that meant a semi-detached in a cul-de-sac rather than a gated mansion in ten acres of woodland. Since football wages ballooned in the 1990s, everyone will remember specific instances that brought home how much things had changed – Michael Owen being able to buy a sports car with his first monthly pay as a first teamer at Liverpool; Kieron Dyer in a documentary visiting a car showroom and working out that his watch cost more than any of the vehicles on display. That is not say that players deserve the criticism routinely aimed at them for supposed greed. In a short career that is always liable to be ended abruptly by injury, they have simply taken what is offered to them by their employers, as most people would. The combination of massive earnings and plenty of spare time to fill has nonetheless led many to squander a fortune. Earlier this year, it was widely reported that several footballers had lost millions in gambling on online betting accounts, with one unnamed player owing £15 million. Some of the business advice they receive has proved disastrous too. A Sunday Times investigation in November 2015 found that scores of current and former players in the UK had collectively lost at least £100m, and maybe several times that figure, in a film investment scheme which crashed. Players will never be short of suggestions from various interested parties for how they can send their money – until it runs out. Any who choose to follow Juan Mata’s example is going to be sneered at in some quarters, but it can only be a good thing if more people earning a living in the world’s most popular sport recognise that it has some social responsibility.
.org commongoal
Above Juan Mata playing an active role in his Common Goal charity – funded by his day job playing for Manchester United colorsport
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