{"id":879612,"date":"2026-10-12T11:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/879612\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:30:21","slug":"alexei-rojas-im-passionate-about-sustainability-i-told-arsenal-we-need-to-fix-this-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/879612\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex\u00e9i Rojas: \u2018I\u2019m passionate about sustainability \u2013 I told Arsenal: we need to fix this\u2019 | Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m a bit of an outlier as a person, I like being unique in who I am and what I do,\u201d says the former Arsenal<\/a> goalkeeper Alex\u00e9i Rojas, who combines saving shots with saving the planet. \u201cI would say that was one of the biggest pulls for me to become a goalkeeper. I like being different.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is plenty to make him stand out. By 15, Rojas was changing the way people thought at Arsenal, transforming attitudes at the academy\u2019s Hale End training ground where he would cycle, rather than get a lift from his parents. Rojas\u2019s interest in the climate crisis began thanks to his mother, who works in wind energy. He would visit her office to learn more about renewables and their potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke about sustainability in front of everyone [at the academy],\u201d Rojas says. \u201cThe staff realised this is something I\u2019m really passionate about. I jumped at the opportunity. I said: \u2018We need to fix this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, there\u2019s no recycling bins, we need to incorporate that. We use way too much plastic, which we can swap out for reusable things or compostable packaging; there\u2019s a lot of energy wasted at the training ground where there\u2019s lights on all the time that don\u2019t need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

This transformation led to more interest from teammates, who quickly switched to reusable bottles, a small indication of what can happen when someone makes a stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really important that clubs are actively pushing what they\u2019re doing in terms of being sustainable \u2013 that could be the way the kits are produced and where the materials are coming from, to sustainability campaigns,\u201d Rojas says. His gloves incorporate recycled materials and the manufacturer donates towards the removal of plastic from the oceans.<\/p>\n

At elite level, teams crisscross the globe for matches, while major international tournaments attract fans from all over the world. The carbon impact is rarely considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our day-to-day, we may not see much of a [climate] impact right now but, as much as people love going to matches, love watching the World Cup, if we don\u2019t protect the longevity of our game, we\u2019re not going to be able to have these moments,\u201d explains Rojas, who has spoken at the London School of Economics and the Net Zero Summit.<\/p>\n

Alex\u00e9i Rojas celebrates after Colombia\u2019s victory against Spain in the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in October 2025. Photograph: Ricardo Moreira\/Fifa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to be able to go with your mates and watch football because the game may not even be on because of the weather conditions. It\u2019s making everybody associated with football understand the potential impacts in the future. And that way, by making it relatable, people can actually start to understand things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rojas, who was born in the Essex town of Basildon and educated in England, has represented Colombia at youth level and experienced the rapidly changing climate around the world and at home. The brutal 2026 summer left grassroots pitches across the United Kingdom looking like deserts.<\/p>\n

The beginning of the season was delayed in parts of the country as dry and bumpy surfaces were deemed unplayable after months of dry weather. \u201cIt\u2019s ultimately going to affect the longevity of the game because elite players start off by playing for local teams in the park and, without suitable conditions, opportunities will be lost,\u201d Rojas says.<\/p>\n

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Rojas has travelled to Kenya for Charity Boots to deliver donated kit. \u201cYou\u2019re solving two problems in one,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou\u2019re solving the sustainability problem because they are not just going to landfill or being burned. You\u2019re also solving equality by helping disadvantaged people in different countries around the world have access to sports equipment, football boots, that they can then use to enjoy, have fun, and then maybe inspire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rojas featured on the Arsenal bench twice, once in the Champions League and another in the Carabao Cup, under Mikel Arteta but never made a senior appearance for the club. He was part of the goalkeeper department when Arsenal won the Premier League last season, training every day with David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga, but left in the summer after eight years with the club to join Penafiel in the Portuguese second tier.<\/p>\n

Alex\u00e9i Rojas (front left) with other charity workers on a recent Charity Boots trip to Kenya, where over 500 pairs of used football boots and kits were donated in connection with an elephant conservation project. Photograph: Scott Schuster Photography\/Charity Boots<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be part of a group of so many elite, world-class players is something that you dream of,\u201d Rojas says, \u201cespecially when, five, six years back, a lot of these players I was living my day-to-day with, training with, were players that I was watching on TV and looking up to. Being part of a squad sitting in the Premier League, in the Carabao Cup, in the Champions League \u2013 things that you dream of as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The childhood dreams have diversified for Rojas but the power of football is at their heart, on and off the field.<\/p>\n

This is an extract from our newsletter, The Hotspot. To subscribe just visit this page<\/a> and follow the instructions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m a bit of an outlier as a person, I like being unique in who I am and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-879612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}