Mathieu Flamini and the social responsibility of footballers Interview with former Arsenal midfielder and founder of GF Biochemicals
It's not just football in players' lives anymore. The fight against social inequalities, raising awareness of climate change and the importance of sustainability are some of the new interests of the modern footballer, although there are those who have been interested in this for several years. Mathieu Flamini, in fact, during his career as a footballer he also dealt with something else. Since 2008, he has been founder and project manager of GF Biochemicals, a company that produces levulinic acid derivatives (bio based solvents) to combat the negative impact from the petroleum products in the chemical industry - derived from plants and agriculture waste - The bio based solvents are safe substitutes and capable of decreasing carbon monoxide (CO2) compared to the incumbents made from oil.
From water, like everything, Flamini's interest - and mission - in the environmental challenge is born. It is as a child, in fact, that on the Coast of Marsigliese (where he was born) personally lives the drama of sea pollution, and just looking at the condition of the Mediterranean comes his challenge against plastic and pollution. A personal challenge that, over time, joins the global one. Meanwhile, he has found the interest of Arsenal team-mate Mesut Özil, who together with Flamini designs the formula to combat the social inequalities and climate change through raising people's awareness and education on how to have a healthy lifestyle. You can't live healthy if the Earth isn't healthy, too.
Some players like Dybala and Bellerin have proven to be socially active. Which players do you compare to or talk about out-of-sport themes with?
With Bellerin we did a podcast three months ago where we talked about the environment. I'm very pleased with things like that. Seeing players like him stand up and mobilize the people who follow him to create a change of mindset is a fundamental gesture and that should be an inspiration to everyone. I hope that players like him inspire other athletes to talk more. Ozil worked with me a lot, too.
Exact. Mesut Ozil was your teammate, but now he's also your business partner. You have launched together the 'Unity' project, a platform for improving people's health and raising awareness of environmental issues. This is an important initiative.
We have been friends since Arsenal and he has always had projects related to the fight against social inequalities. He lives it as a fundamental issue, while between the two I was more connected to the environment. In common we have that we are athletes and that we share the awareness that explaining how to stay healthy can save a life. We talk about healthy living: having a healthy life can save you from many things. Me, Mesut and other athletes are very lucky to have access to information on how to stay fit. We hear doctors, nutritionists, mental coaches and these help us to be at our best in our work, since we are performers. We have understood that prevention is essential. This is why our activity is important: with social media and the Internet people do not inform themselves well, there is not always verified information. We wanted to create a platform that will give everyone the opportunity to learn how to live better, so we have the chance to share reliable information based on our experience as sportsmen and experts, all being information verified by experts and academics.
Let's close with a more personal aspect. Football teams are now totally companies. Now you are a leader of another kind company and you continue to work in contact with people. For your current role, how useful do you think it was to have lived in a football team's locker room?
Discipline, dedication and team spirit. These are the values I learned from football. I trained to always get there and stay at the top, at the highest level, so I worked mainly to improve my performance and manage the pressure, which at these levels is very high. Pressure helps you take responsibility outside the sport world as well and it's important in particular when you're a leader. From a young age you frequent the dressing room, where there are figures older than you and it is from them that you learn to behave. Above all you learn the team spirit, which in the company is fundamental. I have always compared top-level football to military forces: there you need great mental strength, as in football and life.
