Cuba, Brazil to enhance sports cooperation

The Brazilian Minister for Sport, Aldo Rebelo, is seen above. Brazil and Cuba have agreed to boost their bilateral sports cooperation.

Havana, Feb 12 (IANS) Cuba and Brazil agreed to boost their bilateral sports cooperation after establishing a working group to follow an activity program scheduled for the years 2013-2016.

The document was signed here Monday by the visiting Brazilian State Minister of Sports, Aldo Rebelo, and National Institute of Sports and Recreation (INDER) president Christian Jimenez, reports Xinhua.

The text expresses the mutual engagement to support the cooperation in the spheres of communitarian, massive, and high performance sport, as well as for disabled people.

The Brazilian minister stressed the relevance of the accord, and stated that his government wishes to take advantage of Cuban experience and success in sports, which he considers fundamental for the sportive development of his country.

“We want to democratise sports in Brazil and we count on the Cuban help to achieve it, while we offer our best to support the island’s sport,” Rebelo said.

He said that Brazil wants to study Cuba’s success in boxing while assisting the island’s football setup, a discipline in which the South American country is acknowledged worldwide.

Rebelo said that between 2013-2016 period is a schedule to increase the interchange of trainers, training bases and strengthen the scientific researches related to sports.