Real Madrid Foundation and Laureus deepen adapted sport partnership as Award nominees announced

The Real Madrid Foundation and Laureus Sport for Good have ratified an agreement aimed at strengthening the sustainability of their adapted and inclusive football schools programme for people with disabilities.The collaboration was confirmed at Ciudad Real Madrid, with Real Madrid’s director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueño and Laureus World Sports Academy member Marcel Desailly signing the protocol alongside senior foundation executives, including managing director Julio González Ronco and project director Silvia Montes Jovellar.The initiative targets a persistent accessibility gap in Spain, where people with disabilities can still face limited adapted facilities, a shortage of inclusive provision and too few specialised professionals.The schools are designed as social sport environments, with the organisations highlighting benefits that extend beyond participation to health, social interaction and the development of social, emotional and motor skills.Delivery is based on the foundation’s ‘For a REAL Education: Values and Sport’ methodology, which combines football activity with structured values education – including respect, equality and teamwork – led by staff trained specifically for inclusive settings.Last season, the partners said nearly 100 participants benefited from Laureus-backed provision across a range of groups and locations, including Inclusive Orcasur, Adapted Adults Orcasur, ASD Móstoles, ASD Plata y Castañar, Adapted Adults Alcobendas and Adapted Valdebernardo. The programme is positioned as a safe, adapted environment that also supports families.Desailly said: “Our relationship with Real Madrid and Fundación Real Madrid is long standing and built on shared values - excellence, respect, ambition, and above all, inclusion."Over many years, we have seen how our collaboration can create real, lasting impact. Today marks an important step forward and shows once again how sport - in particular football – can inspire and use its incredible power and reach, for good."By formalising this agreement, we strengthen our joint work to expand adapted and inclusive football schools for people with disabilities. This is more than a programme; it is a statement of belief. A belief that every person - regardless of physical, social, or cultural barriers - deserves the chance to play, to belong, to grow, and to experience the joy that sport brings.”Butragueño added: “This collaboration has great social and educational significance for Fundación Real Madrid. Despite growing visibility, many people with disabilities in Spain still face barriers that limit their access to sport."Our adapted and inclusive schools were created to respond to this reality, using sport and teamwork to improve well-being, strengthen essential skills, and foster a true sense of belonging. Together with Laureus, we reaffirm our shared commitment to ensuring that sport is a real and transformative right for everyone.”Meanwhile, there have been a number of football-related Nominees announced ahead of the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards, which take place in Madrid in paril.PSG are up for Team of the Year while their forward Ousmane Dembélé is up for World Sportsman of the Year and winger Désiré Doué is up for Breakthrough of the Year.Barcelona star Aitana Bonmatí is shortlisted again for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award and Leah Williamson, who recovered from a cruciate ligament injury to lead Arsenal to Champions League victory and EURO 2025 success, is up for Comeback of the Year. Her Lionesses team are also contesting Team of the Year.