MADRID, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) has extended the sponsorship agreement that unites it with Cofidis, with whom it has been working since 2011, until the Paris 2024 Games, in addition to maintaining the commitment of the French financial institution with the Cofidis Team of Paralympic Cycling Promises.
The president of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Miguel Carballeda, and the general director of Cofidis Spain, Luc-Bertrand Salus, accompanied by Albert Soler, general director of Sports of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), participated in the signing ceremony.
“It’s about renewing with friends who are essential for our athletes with disabilities to achieve their dreams,” said Carballeda, explaining that what happened “more than a sponsorship, it’s an agreement.” “They are very involved in the world of cycling and in people who play sports, whether or not they have a disability, and that is a good example of treating everyone equally,” said the president of the Spanish Paralympic Committee.
For his part, Luc-Bertrand Salus was also very positive about the agreement. “In the DNA of Cofidis, as a company with purpose, is improving the lives of people and especially those who are most vulnerable. That is why we have adhered to the ADOP Plan for more than 10 years. We started on the road to London 2012 and today We renew this agreement to continue supporting this new cycle that has Paris as its destination,” he said.
The relationship between the CPE and Cofidis is part of the ADOP Plan, which allows the highest-level Spanish Paralympic athletes to have the support they need both to be able to carry out their training with full guarantees and to be able to attend both national and international competitions. that they have to face, with special importance for the 2024 Paris Games.
In addition, Cofidis has been working with the CPE since 2018 in the Cofidis Paralympic Promises Team, designed so that boys and girls with physical, visual, intellectual disabilities or cerebral palsy can relate to cycling and evolve through technical plans, participation in national competitions and international teams and coaches and qualified personnel to, through the social integration they provide, also serve as a stepping stone prior to the Spanish Paralympic Team.
“Since 2018, in our commitment to the social integration of people with disabilities, and hand in hand with the Paralympic Committee, we have created the Promises Team, a project that has allowed several of its members to reach the senior team, and of which today it forms part our young athlete Iraide Rodríguez, who is a great example that this project works”, explained Luc-Bertrand Salus.
Iraide Rodríguez also participated in the act. At 13 years old, he has paralysis in the lower body that has affected him since he was 3 years old. “Until a year ago, I could barely compete in popular races against adults. Now, thanks to the support of Cofidis, I can participate in official competitions and do it with the best athletes of my age. And that is a great opportunity for me that I want to take advantage of “, commented the athlete of the Cofidis Promises Team.