Hummels joins Mata in salary charity pledge

BERLIN: Mats Hummels is the first Germany star to join ‘Common Goal’ - a global initiative for high-profile footballers to donate one percent of their wages to charity.

The World Cup winner joins Manchester United’s Juan Mata, who was the first to sign up to the scheme which supports football projects for disadvantaged children worldwide.

“As soon as I heard of Common Goal, I knew this was a chance for football to improve our world and I wanted to be part of it,” said Bayern Munich stars Hummels.“I feel we could be doing more to connect the increasing revenues in football to some kind of deeper purpose.“Through the one percent pledge, we’re building a bridge between football and it’s social impact around the world.”Hummels and Mata’s contributions will be pooled into a collective fund managed by Berlin-based organisation Street Football World. —AFP