Franco: "I have absolutely nothing against Lambán"

MADRID, 24 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Franco, has assured that he has "deep respect" and that he has "absolutely nothing" against the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, who charged him for his role in the negotiations for the 2030 Winter Olympics, although he regretted that he questioned "the attitude of an athlete and an exemplary person" like Pau Gasol.

"I will always be with the athletes in case of doubt, out of conviction and because I am president of the Higher Sports Council. Against Lambán I have absolutely nothing; what is more, I have always been very respectful of the institutions and with the people who are in charge of the institutions. I respect Javier Lambán as president of the community of Aragón, I have a deep respect for him. Another thing is that we disagree on some issue", he declared after the ceremony of awarding the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit to the athlete Marc Tur.

In an interview on Cadena Ser's 'El Larguero', Lambán accused Franco of having exceeded his limits and of not having fulfilled his role as moderator in the conflict between Catalonia and Aragon over the Games. "I know Mr. José Manuel Franco and he has never been a paragon of political skill, that's why he is where he is," he said. He also stated that the former basketball player Pau Gasol has been "an ally of the independence movement", after the Catalan made sure that the candidacy had been tried to "politicize from the Aragon side".

The head of the CSD questioned these statements. "It bothered me that the attitude of an athlete and an exemplary person was questioned; he does magnificent social work, for example with his NGO, making sure children do not go through needs, fighting childhood obesity... Spanish sport is worthy of pride", he pointed out about Lambán's words about Gasol.

Regarding the 2030 Winter Olympics, he assured that "the ideal" would have been to have "a joint candidacy". "Since it is not possible for reasons that, honestly, I do not know, a divided candidacy would not make much sense in the opinion of the Spanish Olympic Committee. Their decision is respectable, surely they have well-founded reasons for not doing it," he said.

"I still think that the ideal would be for there to be a joint candidacy, which would have a good chance of being successful. It has not been possible and we are going to think about the future, especially in the 2030 World Cup, which will be a great event for Spain and for Portugal," he said.

However, he does not believe that the lack of agreement was politically motivated. "If there were no sports policies, we would not invest the 300 million euros that we have invested this year or the 1,000 million in the last three years, we would not have High Performance Centers that are the envy of many European countries... Politics and sports do not have to be fought, they have to feed each other. I want to think that the decision has not had to do with politics, but with the distribution of evidence, "he said.

In another order of things, he highlighted the role of Marc Tur, fourth in Tokyo 2020, in the visibility of LGTBI people in sport. "The courage of an elite athlete is rewarded, but above all the example is rewarded, which means that an athlete has a gesture of courage by freely communicating his gay status. We recognize the value that a great athlete has given that step. It is an example and hopefully in the future we will have many examples like this, because we dignify sport and set an example for society", he explained.

Finally, Franco pointed out that the rainbow flag displayed at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council reiterates the support of his organization towards the group. "The CSD is committed to diversity, inclusion and feminism. This is one more example of that commitment," he concluded.