Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard today led the signing ceremony of an agreement between the Foreign Ministry and the Juárez soccer team, FC Juarez, to promote sports in Mexican immigrant communities in the U.S.
The agreement is one of the actions carried out by the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME) on behalf of the Foreign Ministry and in collaboration with Mexico's consular network to encourage Mexico's citizens abroad to engage in physical activity and sports as a preventive health measure.
The Foreign Ministry partnered with the professional soccer team FC Juárez to hold events that promote social integration, with the aim of strengthening ties with Mexican communities abroad, focusing on inclusion, and encouraging physical activity, recreation and sports.
In his remarks, the Foreign Secretary said, “Sport itself, in addition to being a very important cultural connection, also has to do with organization, contact and belonging. It energizes our language. It's also about competing, and fighting against segregation, exclusion and aggression. Don't forget what happened in El Paso.”
He said, "One of the main cultural connections of our culture--the sport you like, how you organize yourself, how you socialize, what makes you a community--happens around soccer […] So, one of the most important links between our communities abroad and our country should be to recover or activate or amplify that culture […] that is why it has to be a priority of Mexico's foreign policy.”
The event was attended by the Qatari ambassador to Mexico, Al-Kuwari, as honorary witness to the agreement; the Director General of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), Ana Gabriela Guevara; FC Juárez President Alejandra de la Vega; Liga Mx President Mikel Arriola; the Director of Marketing and Communication of the Bravos de Juárez, Alejandro Hütt; IME head Luis Gutiérrez; and the presidents of the Mexican federations of Boxing, Luchas Asociadas, Tae Kwan Do and the sports business groups that are part of the project.
This synergy between the FC Juárez soccer team and the Foreign Ministry will help young migrants play sports, strengthening their empowerment and leadership. In addition, it gives rise to the first consular Sports Window in the Mexican consulate in El Paso.
