Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe to donate 1% of salary to charity after joining Juan Mata's 'Common Goal'

The World Cup and Olympic gold medal winners become the first female footballers to sign up

Rapinoe (left) and Morgan become the first female footballers to join the initiative (Getty Images)

Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe have joined Juan Mata’s ‘Common Goal’ initiative in donating one per cent of their salary to charity.

The World Cup and Olympic gold medal winners become the first female footballers to sign up to the pledge, joining Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels and 12 other international footballers.

“Common Goal is intended as an inclusive initiative, and myself and Alex felt it was important that women’s football were represented from the outset,” Rapinoe said.

“We’re really looking forward to building the movement with Juan and Mats from here - sky’s the limit at this stage.”

Mata praised the pair for their move, saying: “It takes courage to stand up and bring the movement to US soil for the first time.

“Fortunately, courage is something both Megan and Alex have in spades.”

The players’ donations are being pooled together by Berlin-based NGO Streetfootballworld and the money will support charities around the world.

“Over the past six weeks, we’ve watched Common Goal evolve from an idea on paper to a budding movement that’s already seen four World Cup winners - from across the US and Europe - come together behind a shared commitment to give back,” Streetfootballworld CEO Jürgen Griesbeck said.

“But if we’re really going to transform the football industry, we can’t stop here. We need more of football’s thought leaders to rally behind our vision of the game. The question is: who’s next?”

When launching the project last month Mata implored other footballers to follow his lead.

"I’m asking my fellow professionals to join me in forming a Common Goal Starting XI, he said.

"Together we can create a movement based on shared values that can become integral to the whole football industry - forever.

"I am leading this effort, but I don’t want to be alone."