The project «Liga-nos o Talento» was, this Saturday, in the Algarve, «on the road to celebrate the roots of football».
The Football Foundation – Liga Portugal, with the institutional support of Missão Continente, is traveling the country to offer 20 balls and financial support worth two thousand euros to each of the 22 District and Regional Associations (ADR), in a « tribute to the invaluable work for the development of young people who will be the stars of the future».
At the Continente Modelo store in Albufeira, Beto Pimparel, Liga Portugal ambassador and member of the Board of Directors of the Football Foundation – Liga Portugal, was the one who made the symbolic delivery to Reinaldo Teixeira, president of the Algarve Football Association (AF).
The ceremony was attended by Helena Pires and Rui Caeiro, CEO and executive director of Liga Portugal, respectively, as well as José Carlos Rolo, president of Albufeira City Council, João Pedro Gomes, vice-president of AF Algarve, and Leonel Ventura, representing Missão Continente.
This aggregating route for Professional and Non-Professional Football started at the beginning of November, in Bragança and Vila Real, and has already passed through Aveiro, Porto, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo, Braga, Guarda, Viseu, Azores (Angra do Heroísmo , Horta and Ponta Delgada), Madeira, Setúbal, Lisbon, Coimbra, Santarém and Leiria, before providing support and recognition to AF do Algarve.
ADRs are “the present and the future”, summarized Beto Pimparel. It is in grassroots football that the talent that makes the difference in high-level competition begins to be developed, which distinguishes Portugal as a reference for excellence in the sector.
These essential predicates have to be nurtured from the ground up and this is the message of Liga-nos o Talento: “This is another extremely important initiative on the part of Liga Portugal, firstly, in the sense of recognizing the excellent work that all associations have done to Portuguese football, particularly in training. This is another day on which the Football Foundation recognizes this work, in this case, of AF Algarve, symbolized in the Continente check and the gift of balls for the birthplace of football, which is training. I am proud to be part of this project.”
Reinaldo Teixeira thanked Non-Professional Football for this unifying gesture: “At a good time, they started this project. It's nice to receive the balls and the check, but much more than that, it's the spirit, the intention, the initiative; It is everything that the League and the Football Foundation have become accustomed to, by passing this message to this world of football”.
“We are well aware of the importance of professional football, not only in the economic aspect, the weight it has in our GDP, but in the weight it has in encouraging boys and girls to practice sport, in this case, football. We can say that football has this universe of millions who play it and, of these, only a small percentage reach the professional level”, added the president of the AFA.
“But, let's look at the social aspect, health, and that's why I say that what is done in the clubs is public work to train young people, the men of tomorrow. This role of the League of coming together with the associations, so that they encourage their clubs so that there are more boys playing sport and finding talent in them is very worthy. Congratulations, also, to Continente for the vision of associating Liga Portugal with Missão Continente in strengthening this bridge between Professional Football and training, and in CM Albufeira, to all local authorities in the country”, concluded Reinaldo Teixeira.
José Carlos Rolo, president of Albufeira City Council, welcomed the initiative: “Firstly, I want to thank you for inviting me to witness this simple, but very symbolic ceremony that involves a set of fundamental values for the formation of young people . I want to congratulate Liga Portugal, Continente for joining this action”.
“At Albufeira City Council, we have greatly supported sports clubs, in football and beyond, in order to encourage the training of young people. Therefore, Albufeira is a very small municipality in terms of geographic area, but, in terms of those registered in AF Algarve, it has the most players, which satisfies us, because we understand that these funds made available to clubs are an investment, not an expense. . It is not an investment in tar, cement, bricks, but it is an investment in people”, added the mayor.
Rui Caeiro, executive director of Liga Portugal, welcomed this stage of the itinerary for the roots of football: “Talent connects us, continuing this journey of connecting Professional Football with Non-Professional Football, which has a determining role in the construction of this ecosystem which is Portuguese football. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Continente, our partner in this challenge and, obviously, also the Algarve for welcoming us, and a word to AF Algarve, which has contributed greatly to the development of football”.
Leonel Ventura highlighted the importance of this partnership with Missão Continente: “For Continente de Albufeira it is a privilege to be in this initiative, which is in line with what Missão Continente is. Through football, we can build a bridge to get much closer to people, to support them, which is what Missão Continente has done over these 20 years. This is one of our objectives, it is part of Sonae’s DNA”.
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