Stéphane Nomis, and the Cuban ambassador in Paris, Otto Vaillant/ External Source
Paris, Jan 20 (Prensa Latina).- The president of the French Judo Federation, Stéphane Nomis, and the Cuban ambassador in Paris, Otto Vaillant, today laid the foundations for the signing of a bilateral collaboration agreement in the high performance of this sport.
Promoted by the Cuba Coopération France (CubaCoop) association, the meeting held at the Federation’s headquarters made it possible to address lines of work such as the preparation of athletes for important competitions, the exchange of coaches’ knowledge and the development of a discipline with a lot of tradition and results in both nations.
Nomis expressed the will to support the judokas of the island with training bases in French cities, with cycles of up to one month, which would include coverage of lodging, food and transportation expenses within the country.
Likewise, he advanced the possibility of sending donations of fundamental resources to the largest of the Antilles for the practice of the martial art created by Jigoro Kano, based on coordination with the Cuban counterpart on the main needs.
I am very happy to help, I have very good memories of Cuba and I think we are going to have a nice collaboration, he stressed at the meeting, in which the president of CubaCoop, Victor Fernández, and its vice president Manuel Pascual also participated.
For his part, Ambassador Vaillant thanked Nomis and the French Judo Federation for promoting sports cooperation under the principle of solidarity.
Cuba highly values this type of approach, which it practices with several nations, for example through the contribution of coaches, who prepare athletes who later compete against our own in the international arena, the diplomat explained.
Vaillant commented on the challenge that developing sport represents for the Caribbean country under the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States for more than six decades.
Nomis and the Cuban ambassador discussed the celebration in Paris of the 2024 Olympic Games and the possibility of supporting the preparation of the island’s judokas, so that they arrive at the event under the five rings in optimal conditions.
They also addressed the upcoming celebration of the Grand Slam in Paris, on February 5 and 6, a very popular tournament on Gallic soil, in which Cuban athletes have traditionally competed.
In statements to Prensa Latina, Nomis highlighted France’s interest in promoting sports collaboration, in a context marked by the Olympic cycle with an eye on Paris-2024.
France and Cuba are two judo countries and that gives strength to a cooperation that I am sure we will implement quickly and with good results, said the former athlete, multiple European and Grand Slam medalist in the 81 and 86 kilogram divisions.
The president of the local Federation considered brotherhood and rapprochement between human beings to be of great importance, above the logical spirit of competitiveness that sport generates.
