MADRID, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Víctor Francos took office this Friday as the new president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), a position in which he replaces José Manuel Franco and which he faces “with great enthusiasm” and with the aim of “continuing the path” of his predecessors, insisting in the need to avoid discrepancies and with the aim of making society feel “even more proud” of Spanish sport than it is today.
The new head of the Council was sworn into office surrounded by many personalities from the world of sports, headed by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, the president of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Miguel Carballeda, heads of sports federations such as Francisco V.Blázquez (handball) and Raúl Chapado (athletics), Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, Florentino Pérez and Enrique Cerezo, presidents of Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, respectively, Antonio Martín, head of the ACB, and Miguel Cardenal, former president of the Council between 2012 and 2016.
“I am very excited to start a stage where we will not let the trees prevent us from seeing the forest. Spanish sport has decisive years before it in which I intend to continue the path that my predecessors María José Rienda, Irene and Irene have followed with great success Lozano and José Manuel Franco, whom I deeply appreciate for their commitment to our project and for your presence,” Francos said in his speech after taking the oath of office.
The lawyer stressed that the current Government “has placed sport at the center of its policies”, citing the “long-awaited and complicated reform” of the new Sports Law or the “unprecedented” endowment of public resources, “and all under the conviction that it is a key element to achieve a vital, fair, inclusive and egalitarian society”.
“Sport is a social policy and with that vision, public policies on sports have been deployed since 2018. I accept the challenge of chairing this CSD and I am grateful to the President of the Government and the Minister of Culture and Sports, a friend and confidante, for their trust and willingness to consolidate a State policy in which I believe”, he added.
Francos goes to work “with an enthusiastic and conciliatory spirit, being active and committed, knowing that sport overcomes social barriers and reduces any type of gap.” “Sport contains everything we aspire to be as a country and as a society,” he stressed.
The new president of the CSD believes that his two in the ministry, where he was the Secretary of State for Culture, have helped him to get to know a sports sector to which he offered “certainties” and of which he stressed that beyond its importance at the national level it is one of the “main signs of identity of Spain in the world”.
In addition, he stressed that they are “working with a serious, committed team with a project for the future and continuity.” “This government has driven and promoted the growth of sport with the best arguments and with a vocation for public service,” she explained.
Víctor Francos concluded with “a call for agreement.” “Sport is agreement and not disagreement. I hope for the best in this stage and that will depend on all of you, that we are together, because only in this way will we win the future, with dialogue and without red lines. That’s how you will always find me, I hope to make Spanish sport something to feel even more proud of than we feel today”, he declared.
ICETA WISHES YOU “A LONG, BUT ABOVE ALL FRUITFUL STAY”
For his part, the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, thanked José Manuel Franco, “a man of work and loyalty”. “But also lucky because one of his last acts was an informative lunch where he was able to take stock,” he said.
The politician was affectionate with Francos, with whom he joked that “the boy does not lack ambition” and whom he described as “a friend, but in a very deep sense.” “I am very lucky to be able to count on him. I recognize my shortcomings in the sporting field, but I am extremely lucky to have Víctor by my side for a long time and nothing I have done would have been done without his assistance, intelligence and tenacity. I owe him a lot,” he confessed.
“I have the feeling that it comes at a time when sport touches the sky. Spanish sport is in an extraordinary moment and with the luck that citizen recognition usually always has it, although you think it should have more and you do well. It is going to be difficult for us to feel more proud of Spanish sport because we already feel very, very proud,” Iceta said.
The minister, who thanked RTVE for broadcasting the Women’s Soccer World Cup, celebrated that there are “many people and companies showing support for the sport”, although he did not hide the fact that the ADO Plan still needs “an arreón”. “Betting on sport is always winning and in Spain we have to feel proud of our athletes. Sport is the greatest, but also the smallest, what really makes us a society”, he pointed out.
Iceta recalled that politicians always want to leave “a bit of skin” and with the desire to “contribute a ‘grain’ of sand”, and also wished Francos a “long, but above all fruitful and pro-sports” stay in the CSD, although there are General Elections in July and, therefore, a possible change of Government. “I hope that the Electoral Board does not appreciate bias,” she joked.
“When you promote someone it is because you are convinced that it is the best. I am very convinced this time, because I know what Víctor is made of, values, hopes, ambitions and political principles. We are in an extraordinary moment in sport, accompany him for sport and for Spain, which is many things, also culture and sport, which identify us and make us who we are”, concluded the Minister of Culture and Sport.