Spanish betting operator, Sportium, has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting women’s sport by awarding its ‘Sportium Prize’ to the Spanish U17 national football team during the awards ceremony for the Association of Sports Journalists of Madrid (APDM) on Monday.
The operator set out to both recognise and celebrate the success of the club after they were declared 2018 World Champions in their age category, beating Mexico 2-1.
Alberto Eljarrat, CEO of Sportium, emphasised that more efforts need to be made to improve the visibility of the women’s sport. He commented: “The historic triumph of this team demonstrates the importance of making women’s sport visible and supporting the new generations of women footballers.
“From Sportium, we are committed to always promote the values of effort, struggle and overcoming sport, of which this team is proud “.
Leire Peña and Isabel Okoye, two of the players that helped the team to victory, have been commissioned to receive the award, accompanied by team coach Jorge Vilda. The award was presented to the team by the current president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales.
The APDM also recognised another of the sporting milestones within Spanish football: El Clásico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The match was recognised for its consistent ability in breaking viewing records, and attracting the attention of hundreds of millions of viewers towards the sport.
As part of the individual awards section, the APDM recognised world mini flyweight boxing champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF). Joana Pastrana. They also acknowledged Sandra Sánchez, world champion in Karate, and Diego García Carrera who is a champion spanish racewalker.
Insider Insight: It’s not long since UEFA pledged to strengthen its ongoing strategy to promote female participation in football, and it’s great to see that more industry stakeholders such as Sportium are following suit.
With the operator’s backing, the additional publicity for the team can help organically grow its fan-base, as well as strengthen the following for women’s football across Spain.
