Nadal will receive the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit

Rafa Nadal continues to add recognition to his unique career in the world of tennis. The Government has granted the Balearic Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit, as announced by the spokeswoman for the Executive, María Jesús Montero, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers this Tuesday.

A decoration that the Spanish tennis player will receive after winning his thirteenth champion title at Roland Garros on Sunday and equaling the record for Grand Slam trophies that Roger Federer held alone until then.

“We are honored to convey this distinction to him not only for the undoubted sporting merits of one of the best athletes in history at an international level. It is a pleasure to do it with a person who brings together the values, the youth references, everything that allows us to be better. The Government makes this recognition highly deserved for one of our national prides», Also highlighted the Minister of Finance during her speech.

In his resolution, the prosecutor of the Royal Order of Sports Merit, Juan María Fernández Carnicer, highlights the «work of extraordinary service and of undeniable merit to the world of sport«Made by Nadal, as well as his ability to» prestige the name and reputation of Spain throughout the planet «or his» trajectory of a special exemplary «.

For her part, the president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), Irene Lozano, stressed that this recognition “is justice.” «Few figures arouse as much consensus as that of Rafa Nadal. He is an incredible athlete and an exceptional person, as it has so many times shown. Spain loves Rafa and this is another way of recognizing it, “he said.

Nadal thus inscribes his name in the line of champions whose career has been honored with this high distinction, the highest in the sports field awarded by the Government and the Superior Sports Council (CSD). The last to receive her, posthumously, was the skier Blanca Fernandez Ochoa, who died in 2019. Before, figures of the stature of footballers had been the object of the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Iker Casillas, Vicente del Bosque, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ladislao Kubala or Paco Gento, the gymnast Gervasio Deferr and the canoeist David Cal.