Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba wants to help tackle Britain’s life crisis, telling Sky News that ending poverty is the “goal” of a new ethical fund he is launching.
In an exclusive interview, Pogba, 30, recalled standing in line at food banks with his mother when he was growing up in France.
“I remember we used to go there when I was four or five years old,” he said.
“They help you with milk and sugar and all that stuff, and my mom used to go over there and line up. She was a mother of three and divorced my dad.”
He added: “I didn’t just come this way and have money. I struggled and it made me better and developed. Now I have the value of money and the value of life. I know what it is to struggle. I saw it, my mother did it.”
The France international, who now plays for Italian side Juventus, signed for United in 2016 for his second spell with the club for a then world record fee of £89.3m.
When he lived in Manchester, it was inevitable to see poverty, he praised his former team-mate Marcus Rashford, saying, Helped secure holiday meal vouchers for children receiving free school meals..
Pogba, who is a Muslim, said charity is an important part of his faith, adding that high-profile athletes have a social responsibility to support their communities.
“I want to help because it can be overwhelming for some people,” he said. “It’s nothing to us but it could be huge to them.”
Pogba’s fund is based on Islamic principles known as waqf. (Arabic for punctuation).
Powered by a digital investment platform called Waheed, in association with a UK-registered charity, its new initiative aims to create a self-sustaining model of giving.
“Basically it’s a perpetual endowment where you give away the invested money and the proceeds are used for a good cause,” explains Waheed’s Compliance Director, Omar Sulaiman.
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The partnership will focus on education, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, guided by the principles of Islamic finance and social responsibility.
The fund started in the UK but Pogba says he wants to take it worldwide.
“You have to start somewhere,” he said. “You can start with one person, then two, then three, and then it gets bigger and bigger.
“We just try to help as much as we can and hopefully if we can touch everyone, the goal will be to end poverty.”
Source by [Sky News]
