The entire England football team are donating their World Cup match fees to charity.
Now this is nothing new for them, as it’s been known to happen for many years now, but it’s always nice to report on a good gesture.
While Kylian Mbappe was being praised for giving up his wages for his France games, Gary Lineker and Gary Neville importantly pointed out it’s been happening for ’10 to 15 years’ among the England squad.
Everybody was – quite rightly – full of praise for 19-year-old Mbappe, who is said to be donating his £17,000 wages after every international game because he says he does not believe he should be paid to represent his country.
According to L’Equipe, Mbappe will be donating all of his bonuses to the Premiers de Cordees association, a charity which sets up sport activities for children with disabilities.
He will then donate his participation wage to a different association after every match.
As previously mentioned England players have donated their wages to charity for some time now, having set up the England Footballers’ Foundation (EFF).
The charity was established by the players’ committee in 2007, and was led by then-captain David Beckham.
Including the likes of John Terry and Gary Neville, it was set up to enable international squads to donate match fees, and time, in support of good causes.
The EFF has since worked with many charities, including UNICEF, Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes and The Honeypot Children’s Charity, as well as the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research
It has raised more than £5 million over those 11 years.
FA chief Martin Glenn said England players don’t keep their earnings when they’re playing for their country.
According to The Express, he said:
I get absolutely indignant about the suggestion that players when they play for England, don’t really care because it’s not anything like my experience.
They don’t take a penny in match fees, they give it to charity.
In 2013, Beckham also donated wages earned from his time playing at Paris Saint-Germain.
He promised his earnings while playing for PSG, which was rumoured to be around €200,000 (£170,000) a week, would go to a children’s charity in Paris.
At the time, The Guardian reported he’d said:
We’ve decided on something that’s quite unique. I won’t receive any salary: we’ve decided my salary will go towards a local children’s charity in Paris and that’s one of the things we’re very excited and proud to do.
It’s something I’m not sure has been done before but I’m passionate about children and the charity, so we came together and it’s something special.
England are back in World Cup action on Tuesday (July 3) when they face Colombia in a 7pm (BST) kick off. American official Mark Geiger has been confirmed as the referee on the night.
It’s a really good thing, as many people point out, the honour of playing for your country is probably better than any money anyway.
P.S. It’s coming home.
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