Cafu, Brazil’s former World Cup winning captain, Nicol David, squash’s record-breaking former World No.1, Argentina’s rugby legend Hugo Porta and Nadia Comǎneci, the five-time Olympic champion gymnast, were back in the sporting arena today, making sure the young people of the Futbol Mas project in Madrid ended their latest session with smiles on their faces.
All four are Laureus World Sports Academy Members, in Spain’s capital city to attend the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards here on Monday.
Some of the greatest athletes in the world will attend the globally-broadcast event – and the winners will leave with the most sought-after prize in all of sport, The Laureus.
Ahead of the greatest show in sport, Porta, David, Cafu and Comǎneci paid a visit to Futbol Mas, one of more than 300 programmes in over 40 countries supported and funded by Laureus Sport for Good, the movement founded with words of Nelson Mandela at the first Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000: “Sport has the power to change the world.”
During a lively and fun-filled session, the sporting legends joined in passing drills and a short-sided game of football and connected with staff who use these sessions to promote physical and emotional wellbeing in marginalised neighbourhoods.
Futbol Mas has bases in Africa, Europe and Latin America.
Nadia Comǎneci said: “I have been a Member of the Laureus World Sports Academy since the very start, 25 years ago, and I am proud to say I have visited many of the programmes we have supported in that time. Futbol Mas is a shining example of the Laureus mission – to use sport to improve the lives of young people like these. Their compassion and imagination proves that this movement is only just getting started.”
Nicol David said: “Only sport can have the impact we saw here today. When we can connect with the young people at these programmes and see the fantastic work that is happening every day, all over the world, it brings to life the ideas that drive Laureus. Those ideas have never been as important as they are today and Futbol Mas is a leading example of what we can do when we empower changemakers to unlock the power of sport.”
Hugo Porta said: “For 25 years I have seen the difference programmes such as Football Mas make in communities like this. This impact is immediate in some ways – you can see the smiles on the faces of the children here today – but it can also last for generations, as Laureus Sport for Good helps programmes like this sustain their work, training more coaches and reaching more kids every year.”
Cafu said: “It’s inspirational to see a programme that reaches different communities in different countries all over the world. That is the power of football, the power of sport that Nelson Mandela first spoke of. As we prepare for the Awards in Madrid, this work is the beating heart of the Laureus movement. I don’t know if these kids know they were playing with a World Cup winner today, but they gave me far more than I gave them.”