The Catalan Ball Federation regretted Tuesday that the president of the Superior Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, who said that “the Basque ball is not a Spanish sport in the sense that it is practiced throughout Spain”, does not recognize the “long history and tradition”, and the “strong roots” of this sport in Catalonia, and recalled that this entity can presume up to 11 world champions in the discipline.
In a letter signed by the president of the Federation, Agustí Brugués Puig, he described as “misguided” the statements of Rodríguez Uribes in which he said that “the Basque ball is not a Spanish sport in the sense that it is practiced throughout Spain”, in addition to “it is not an issue of confronting or confronting, but of recognizing the areas where this special modality is practiced Euskadi, Navarra and La Rioja “.
But from the Catalan Ball Federation they defended that this sport “is practiced in various territories of the Spanish geography in addition to Euskadi, Navarra and La Rioja, such as Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Community of Madrid, Community Valencian, Galicia, Murcia, and of course Catalonia.”
This federation last year celebrated its 100 years of history, becoming the first regional federation to reach this figure, “even ahead of the Spanish Federation itself and also of the International Federation.” “Therefore, we can say that in Catalonia the sport of the ball also has a strong roots,” he recalled.
In addition, the entity took chest with its “long list of champions of Spain in various ball modalities (tip basket, tool, hand and border ball)”, also with “11 Catalan world champions, honored in the celebration of the centenary” of the Federation.