The President of the Republic defended this Wednesday that sport in Portugal has changed with the contribution of José Manuel Constantino, thanking the president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP) for his “tired” past in the service of the country.
“It will be difficult for them to be able to witness a ceremony as unforgettable as this one,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began, addressing the audience present today, at the Faculty of Human Motor Skills of the University of Lisbon, in Oeiras. the attribution by the University of Lisbon of the doctorate Honoris Causa to the highest national sports representative.
Considering that José Manuel Constantino “always lived like a university student,” the President of the Republic considered that the ceremony of Honoris Causa It was “a day of celebration for the university”, but also “a day of celebration for sport”, because the president of the COP “dedicated his passion to sport”.
“His concern for sport went much further. What he published covered practically all dimensions of sport and, most importantly, influenced Portuguese sport. Portuguese sport learned from him,” he argued.
President of the COP since 2013, Constantino, born on May 21, 1950 in Santarém and graduated in Physical Education from the Instituto Superior de Educação Physique, has a long career linked to sport, but also to public administration.
Among the positions held, we highlight the presidency of the Portuguese Sports Confederation, between 2000 and 2002, the presidency of the Portuguese Sports Institute, between 2002 and 2005, and, inherently, the presidency of the National Anti-Doping Council and the presidency of the National Council. Against Violence in Sports.
“Today is also a celebration of the Olympic spirit, because sport also changed in Portugal with him, as a spokesperson for the Olympic spirit. How he understood that the Olympic spirit could be more internationalist, more open, more global, more peaceful, more tolerant, more dialogue-oriented, more democratic, more pluralistic, more progressive,” continued the President of the Republic.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that José Manuel Constantino “has so many exceptional characteristics that it is difficult to select two”, but chose to highlight “the character and progressive spirit” of the new Doctor Honoris Causa.
“The character, sometimes intractable. Slightly intractable. But fortunately. The character who knows how to face the most difficult situations with the same virility, the same verticality and the same determination. And, then, the progressive spirit, always facing for the good. future,” he listed.
For the Head of State, today’s ceremony was also a celebration of Portugal and the future, something “strange, because normally in doctorates Honoris Causa the past is honored.”
“With you it’s exactly the opposite. Every day you recreate yourself. Every day starts as if it were the first day. […] and set goals. And there is no lack of objectives such as the recognition of sport in the public sphere, of going further in public policies, there is not even a lack of specific Olympic objectives in a few months. I hope that you think about them, we think about them and we are calm because we know that you are thinking about them,” he said, referring to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The President of the Republic guaranteed that Portugal will not release José Manuel Constantino from its future, visibly weakened by health problems, and revealed that, “one day or another”, the top national sports leader “will not escape” another award. “We had to save a little thinking about his future,” he added.
“You cannot rest, you have never rested in your life. Your life was full of exhausting services to Portugal. And therefore, I am here to thank you, on behalf of Portugal, for this exhausting past, but for betting on an exhausting future what you have ahead of you,” he concluded.
Source: TSF
