Ex-Manchester United Star Juan Mata's Movement Eyes Blockchain To Boost Trust

Part of the beauty of former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata’s Common Goal concept is its simplicity.

The initiative, launched in 2017, has individuals and organizations within the world of soccer pledge at least one percent of their income to a collective fund that supports soccer charities around the world.

Amongst the project’s early adopters were hugely successful international players like ex-Italian captain Giorgio Chiellini and German World Cup winner Mats Hummels, as well as US Women’s National Team megastars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.

Three years ago Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp became the first big-name manager to join the movement, which also includes UEFA
EFA-
president Aleksander Čeferin and Danish club FC Nordsjælland.

However, the Common Goal movement becomes a whole lot more complicated when the group starts trying to engage and organize its diverse global community in other ways.

Assembling a movement of soccer stars willing to commit to their income is one thing, but harnessing their collective power is something different altogether.

The way the organization tries to tackle this challenge is through technology, explains

Common Goal’s other co-founder, Thomas Preiss.

“We operate a WhatsApp group,” he tells me, “the people that are in the movement actually never really physically get together. A lot of the community building is supported by modern communication technologies. I don’t think a movement like Common Goal would be possible without these tools.”

Such a strategy might sound logical, but all too often in the non-profit arena, the approach is distinctly analog. Fear new technologies might be expensive or ineffective can be a stumbling block for big charities that used the same trusted fundraising techniques for decades.

Preiss wants Common Goal not only to operate with technology tools modern businesses use, but he also wants the charity to be at the cutting edge.

Belief in blockchain

One such effort to lead on tech comes in a newly inked partnership with technology firm Chiliz
CHZ
designed to harness the power of blockchain-the decentralized online information ledger used for cryptocurrency.

Although blockchain tends to be linked to crypto, the technology has the potential to be used for many more applications. The two organizations recognize an open and accessible record showing the flow of funds from donor to project, which blockchain offers, has the potential to revolutionize charitable giving.

For Common Goal, a project which relies on members making an ongoing commitment and routs funds to other organizations such transparency is beneficial to everyone involved.

“I think there’s a certain challenge about trust in football, sport and in charitable giving,” Preiss continues. “[But there is] the potential is for blockchain technology to play a meaningful role [in addressing that]

“The same applies to other industries and sectors. I think, sooner or later, we will see stocks being on the blockchain or real estate transactions shown on the blockchain. There will be a move of financial transactions being in some capacity validated so why shouldn’t that be the case for donations?

“Why shouldn’t the NGO sector lead on this?” He adds.

‘A souvenir shirt for the web3 man cave’

Of course, it’s all well and good to sign a partnership with a tech firm, even one like Chiliz which is specifically set up to devise uses for blockchain in the world of sport, and not make the impact promised at the launch event, which incidentally took place at Paris Blockchain Week.

So to demonstrate how the pair will work together they decided to push a classic charity fundraiser into the 21st century.

As part of the ‘One Shirt Pledge’ the likes of Juan Mata, Jermaine Jenas, Giorgio Chiellini and Cristian Romero donate a match-worn jersey from their personal collection for auction.

The Web3 twist is that the player records a video ‘pledge’ explaining why the jersey is important to them, that video quite literally becomes an additional part of the item’s value by being integrated into the clothing itself through a near-field communications [NFC] chip.

It means the owner of a Cristian Romero framed jersey not only has mud stains and sweat marks to prove its authenticity, they can also hover a smartphone over the item and play its exclusive video.

The confluence of real and digital memorabilia is reinforced by twinned digital collectible versions of the jerseys minted on the Chiliz Blockchain.

James Newman director of corporate affairs at Chiliz believes such initiatives are the future.

“The way things now happen is [people] don’t just want that physical element of experience all of us, whether we like it or not, have an online digital profile,” he says.

“So as well as [someone might say] ‘come to my man cave and see my shirts on the wall’ we’re moving to a world where your digital wallet is as much of a signifier which demonstrates your communities and allegiances as anything else.”

Common Goal hopes such initiatives will not only be a way to raise money but also increase the number of people involved in the movement.

“When I joined Common Goal nearly six years ago I couldn’t imagine the different ways in which it would grow and that it would inspire and bring together so many people on and off the pitch,” Juan Mata, Co-founder of Common Goal adds.

“To see another avenue of collaboration come to life through the One Shirt Pledge is just further proof that working together in new ways can make real change.”

If Common Goal and Chiliz can harness the power of blockchain in the way they hope their One Shirt collaboration could be the start of an even more fundamental shift in the way NGOs operate.