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Speech to Unesco

The following is a transcription of President Joan Laporta's speech in Paris on Friday:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express on behalf of Futbol Club Barcelona my gratitude to UNESCO for your willingness to partner with our institution. We see this cooperation as a recognition of the work we are doing in favour of universal education and the promotion of values of citizenship. We are using sports in general and football specially, as tools for the social inclusion of children and youth, by providing them the opportunity they deserve for a proper intellectual, emotional and physical development .

I strongly believe that UNESCO, Futbol Club Barcelona and our Foundation, we share a similar position in society. Although your work is mainly concerned with education, science and culture, we are not as different as might appear at first glance.

We are indeed a football club, but also a multi-sports club, due to our four other professional and eight amateurs sports sections. Our objective as a club is to win all the competitions we take part. Indeed, more than an objective, this should be a responsibility of every sportsperson: to make the best efforts to win, knowing that there can only be one winner.
When we introduce ourselves, we state that we are “more than a club”. From the sports perspective, this means that we want to win – but not at any price. We are concerned about the way we win because we want to play fair and we want to play well, in a way that is attractive for the spectator.

Because, for us, winning is not an end in itself. For Futbol club Barcelona and our foundation, sport helps children and youth in their personal development. It makes them perseverant and brave to establish goals, teach them to be respectful to others and to take commitments, assuming efforts, and ready to accept successes and defeats. We would like to contribute to “make a difference” through our engagement against racism and violence. Sport is likely the best universal language, an invitation to fraternity, promoting cultural diversity and peace among nations.

We come from a deep civic commitment and we continue being a dynamic element of social integration and cultural promotion. During more than a century, our institution has been building its history through democratic mechanisms and commitment to social progress. This is our contribution, and this is why we are here, to offer the best of ourselves.

You are the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture. You carry out an extraordinary job in these areas. You are also tireless workers in the service of peace. As your former general director, the Catalan Federico Mayor Zaragoza, supported, you are trying “to build the bastions of peace in the minds of people”. Education, science and culture in favour of peace, tolerance, human rights and peaceful co-existence. To educate in the culture of peace and tolerance; to educate to achieve a better world. Well done !

Finally, I would like to say that our Foundation is our soul, the social identity of our club. Our Foundation implements through its programmes our commitment to benefit children and youth. To benefit children and youth promoting sports values to integrate them in a diverse and tolerant society.

Perhaps some people may think that this is an utopic approach. Doesn’t matter !!! Utopias need the right dose of children’ innocence. We strongly believe in our utopia, and we have enough innocence to achieve our goals.

We are very grateful to UNESCO for letting us collaborate with you to try and make possible, through sport and through football, our utopia: make a better world for our children and future generations.

"En nom dels socis i aficionats del Futbol Club Barcelona, i en favor de la pau, el respecte i la convicencia entre els pobles del món",

Moltes gràcies,
Thank you very much