CÁDIZ, 24 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The mayor of Cádiz, José María González, and the president of the Andalusian Judo Federation, Carlos Calvo, have signed this Tuesday the collaboration agreement by which the capital of Cádiz is confirmed as the venue for the Raúl Calvo International Memorial Tournament for another two years more, with which this sporting event will be able to celebrate “at home”, this 2023, an edition “so marked and special” as is the one corresponding to its 50th anniversary.
In addition to the Councilor for Sports, José Ramón Páez, the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, and the president of the Spanish Judo Federation, Juan Carlos Barcos, attended the signing as “sponsors” of this agreement, as informed the Cádiz City Council in a note.
Blanco thanked the mayor for the support offered by the City Council to the Raúl Calvo Memorial, which he referred to as “a benchmark” both in sports and for “generating a dynamic of values”. He has also expressed his congratulations to the government team “for understanding sport as an integration factor and an egalitarian factor in society” and has promised to return to Cádiz before the Memorial to “form a series of agreements so that the city can continue to be a sports reference in Spain and in the world”.
During his speech, the mayor recalled the “success” of the previous edition of the Memorial in the city, which “was filled with activities related to judo and involved a large part of society.” For this year of the 50th anniversary, he explained that they have “great expectations” and that the objective is to “continue promoting judo and continue opening the event to the public.” Thus, the activities associated with the tournament this 2023 that will be declared as “the Raúl Calvo Year” will increase in quantity, in spaces and in time.
Among the reasons why the City Council is committed to promoting judo, González cited the benefits it has for health, as it is a discipline capable of generating “good habits of behavior and respect inside and outside the school environment” and being “an effective tool to prevent falls in the elderly and in children and promotes gender equality in sport.” For this reason, he has advanced that judo is going to be incorporated into the School Sports Program promoted by the City Council.
The Councilor for Sports explained that the date of the Raúl Calvo International Memorial Tournament is set for October 21, although judo-related activities for all ages will be held throughout the calendar, starting in February. Among others, he has mentioned fall prevention workshops in the elderly and in children, there will be congresses that will focus on judo as a mediating tool in bullying conflicts in the school environment, self-defense workshops for women through the judo, as well as competitions and exhibitions taking advantage of other major events that the city hosts such as SailGP.
“We are enormously satisfied that Cádiz once again hosts such an important sporting event and one that is so linked to the city through the figure of Raúl Calvo, a judoka from Cádiz who left us too young, but who has left a great mark on the city both both at a sporting and personal level”, stated the mayor, who assured that “even today it continues to contribute through a Memorial that allows Cádiz to continue growing and positioning itself internationally as a reference venue for holding sporting events of many disciplines”.
