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05.08.2008 17:32
Solidarity campaign in the New York stock exchange
David Saura (special correspondent)
FC Barcelona, Malaria No More and the AYSO association took their joint compromise to the New York stock exchange, where they opened the session on a day used as an international stage for this cause.
The sound of the New York Stock Exchange (N.Y.S.E.) bell this morning had a charity ring to it. A few minutes before opening the session the screens of the New York exchange showed a very clear message: ‘More than a club. Kick it to malaria’ . Barça took their message of solidarity to the international finance centre.
With the captain and the manager
President Joan Laporta, the captain Carles Puyol and the manager Pep
Guardiola were the most visible faces in an act which has shed even more light on the clubs
international image, associated with the new commitment announced yesterday in New York: the fight
against malaria.
Hand in hand with prestigious institutions such as Malaria No More and the American Youth Soccer Organisation (A.Y.S.O.), just before 8.30a.m. president Joan Laporta opened the stock exchange, in which are quoted 56 of the 65 stocks which make up the Dow Jones Index. On both extremes of the stage Pep Guardiola and Carles Puyol showed two shirts, one with the front sporting a U.N.IC.E.F. logo and the other with the message ‘Malaria No More’ on the back.
Opening Bell
The president of the Statutory Economic Commission, Xavier Sala I
Martín, was alongside Joan Laporta while the Barça president pushed the button which rings the bell
of the traditional opening ceremony known as the ‘Opening Bell’. This is an act of
protocol reserved for personalities and authorities and in this case Barça were the centre of
attention.
Interviews with the economics press
After beginning the session, president Joan Laporta and the committee
move down onto the parquet of the exchange, where the commercial transactions were already in
motion. At this moment Fox Business News, Bloomberg T.V. and C.N.N interviewed the president. He
also gave a more detailed interview to Forbes magazine.
Click on the link to see the ceremony broadcast by the N.Y.S.E.
A big committee
Apart from the president, the manager and the captain, the FC Barcelona delegation who took part in
this act was completed by the vice-president Rafael Yuste; the directors Albert Perrín and Jacint
Borràs; the technical secretary, Txiki Begiristain; the director general of the Foundation, Lander
Unzueta, and Marta Segú, responsible for International Projects.
On behalf of Malaria No More was Peter Cherning, its president, whilst Rick Davis, ex-player for the New York Cosmos, was the representative for the A.Y.S.O. association, of which he is the executive director.
On behalf of Malaria No More was Peter Cherning, its president, whilst Rick Davis, ex-player for the New York Cosmos, was the representative for the A.Y.S.O. association, of which he is the executive director.
