International Women's Day: La Liga Foundation spreads the message of gender equality

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Bengaluru, March 9: On International Women's Day (March 8), women and girls from different parts of the world who participated in the La Liga Foundation projects relayed a message of hope to society to defend equal rights and opportunities, and to strengthen the role of women in sport.

Around 2,500 girls from all over the world participated in a variety of workshops, activities and sports competitions, improving their confidence and self-esteem, as well as their social skills and sports knowledge, through football as a vehicle of integration to improve their quality of life.

Likewise, 134 coaches and 10 referees have received specific training with the aim of opening them up to new opportunities in the future and empowering women in sports in El Salvador, Jordan, India, Cameroon, and Uganda, among other countries.

In Spain, the La Liga Foundation instillied values among young girls through the Futura Hobby educational project -- raising awareness of equality from a young age was one of the central themes of the programme.

In addition, the La Liga Genuine Santander was an inclusive and pioneering league in the world for people with intellectual disabilities; 77 players over 16 years old participate.

"Gender equality is a key objective for us and, for this reason, we work with the aim of strengthening the role of women and their professional performance in sports, empowering women and girls to achieve full integration into society," said
La Liga Foundation Director Olga de la Fuente.

Back home in India, the International Women's Day was observed the gusto.

Indian women's football team captain Ashalata Devi gave a special message on the occassion.

"We're no less than any men and from the bottom of my heart, I would like to say that we're multi-talented. So anyone looks down upon you or says wrong, you just've to work hard," Ashalata told AIFF Media.

"They can give you a good or bad opinion but you need to focus on your dream by putting in a lot of handwork and dedication and keep on moving forward. We, the women are built different, but we can very much achieve what men can, and maybe more. In order to move forward, we need to be one and respect each other," the Blue Tigresses skipper added.