The FC Barcelona Foundation has strengthened its links with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB)following a meeting held in Washington.
Although the presentation of the agreement between the Fundació and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation captured most attention, the Club’s Foundation has also been busy on other fronts
during the Tour so far and part of that work was the meeting held with the President of the Inter
American Development Bank Luis Alberto Moreno and members of his team.
The meeting served as a chance to check the progress made since the
two organisations signed an agreement earlier this year, which focussed
principally on the project for building sporting facilities in 12 of the poorest areas of Rio de
Janeiro, a commitment undertaken together with the NBA and the city’s council.
Moreno surprised at Cub’s wide appeal
Luis Alberto Moreno expressed his satisfaction with the co-operation so far and also
explained: “I have been surprised at the relevance that this Club has. I was recently in
Egypt and Haiti and you could see Barça shirts everywhere”. He also referred to his visit to
the Club earlier this year: “I went and saw them explaining that the hardest game to win was
to beat poverty. From that moment I understood what was in their hearts”.
The Bank’s President reckons the Club can bring plenty to his own organisation:
“we can teach in poor areas through sport -a thing as simple as the rules of building
citizenship and that then helps us reduce violence which is a big problem in our countries”.
The Vice President of the Fundació, Ramon Pont also explained: “the Club has known how
to exploit this successful period in our history to project our values”, insisting that
although the Club is rooted within its own community “we have to be global, because we can
offer a lot”. Club President Sandro Rosell, director general, Antoni Rossich and the director
general of the Fundació, Josep Cortada, were also present at the meeting.