FCBARCELONA.CAT
Main menu
Content menu
Club
07.03.2009 22:21
Merckx in the Directors Box
Míriam Nadal
One of the greatest cyclists of all time, Eddy Merckx was at the Nou Camp for the game against Bilbao tonight and the five times Tour de France winner expressed his interest in the work of the Barca Fundació.
Merckx, who won five Tours (1969,1970,1971,1972 and 1974)as well as five Giros d’Itàlia (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974) was present for the game and met the club President and members of the board before the match.
Happy to be at the stadium
Merckx told Barca TV and the club website: “I’m happy to be
here to see this game against Bilbao. This isn’t my first time at the stadium, but it’s
been quite a while since I was last here. I’ve been watching this Barca team on the TV with
Eto’o, Henry and especially Messi as part of my family is also Argentinean and my grandson is
a great fan of Leo’s”
Shirt exchange
Merckx swapped one of his cycling T-shirts for a Barca shirt with President
Laporta and after meeting with him and board members he expressed his interest in the work carried
out by the FC Barcelona Fundacio in a meeting with the Director General of the Fundacio Marta Segú,
as well as explaining his own experiences working with the Fundació Padre Damián, who fight against
Leprosy.
To view this content you need the latest version of the Flash Player
Committed
Merckx is also the main force behind Red Heart, an association which works to avoid sudden deaths
in sports people and it was in this role that he met the head of the club’s medical services
Ramon Canal. The Belgian ex-champ explained that he was very much in favour of defibrillators to
help avoid this kind of tragedy.
