This Thursday, the President of the Republic awarded the Portuguese Handball Federation with the title of honorary member of the Order of Merit during a reception for the wheelchair handball team.
At a ceremony at the Sala das Bicas Palacio de Belen in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza announced that he would later personally honor the members of the wheelchair handball team that became European and world champions last November.
“First the institution, then the people,” the head of state said, justifying the option of awarding the Portuguese Handball Federation first.
The President of the Republic believed that without the work of the federation and its “great president” Miguel Laranjeiro, the success of the Portuguese wheelchair handball team “would not have been possible”.
“Handball owes a lot to the federation and the leadership of this federation, which is really inspiring, enthusiastic and excited for the Portuguese,” he praised.
“But this is a great team and you are part of that team. It belongs to everyone, I pass it on to the leader of everyone,” Marcelo Rebelo de Souza added, assuring that there would be a “second meeting” for a “special honor”. each of the elements of the wheelchair handball team.
In his speech, in which he also mentioned economics and politics, the head of state noted that “Portuguese handball is in a great phase” and that Portugal is beginning to be “a force in handball, despite the fact that it is not a sport.” practiced by thousands and thousands” of people and “not very supported in school sports”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took the opportunity to state that there should be “more betting on high school sports”.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.