The works of the first day of the conference, organized by the Harvard University, with the support of Olympiacos and Mr. Evangelos Marinakis, took place on Friday 1/6 and were particularly constructive. The conference, as known, has the participation of professors and scholars in general, from universities across the 5 continents! Students from Harvard University, but also from other Massachusetts’ educational institutions, representatives of clubs, federations, sports related and unrelated organizations, people from football and sports in general participate as well. They were all brought together in the facilities of the famous Bostonian University and had a creative debate that lasted for hours!
The first discussion focused on racism in the field of sports and how all those who are interested in a better future can fight it. Not only in sports, but in our society as a whole. After all, sports is a miniature of society. Lilian Thuram and, representing UEFA, the head of the Football and Social Responsibility Unit, Mr. Patrick Gasser, participated in this discussion.
Afterwards, Emilio Butragueño took the floor and presented the history of Real Madrid and the social facet of this huge club. Through the Real Foundation, the European champions are constantly developing their social work with multifaceted actions in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and wherever needed. After Emilio Butragueño, Barcelona Foundation’s Director, Ms. Mària Vallés, took over and presented the actions of the Foundation concerning the fight against bullying in the field of sports, from the children’s teams and the early ages to the veteran athletes’ teams!
The second part of the conference’s first day was dedicated to women’s football! The problems faced by women in the field, compared to men, in matters of contracts, negotiations, but also in terms of competitive value in general were analysed. Also present at the conference was the daughter of the legendary Pelé, Ms. Kely Nascimento-DeLuca, who presented her views, as founder of the Warrior Women Project. The first day of the Harvard conference, sponsored by Olympiacos and Mr. Evangelos Marinakis, ended with the speech by the distinguished journalist of the British newspaper Guardian, Mr. David Conn. Mr. Conn analysed the social actions of the teams, of the sports organizations in general, and also of the federation itself, in the English Premier League.
