Belgium’s Sporting Traditions

Antoine Delcourt, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Belgium

Sports in Belgium Sports is an integral part of the society in

Belgium.

Popular sports in Belgium are among others football, cycling, tennis, athletics, swimming, basketball, judo, hockey, motocross, auto racing, volleyball...

Belgium focusses on the process of improving the sporting traditions in the country by investing heavily in the industry (infrastructure, technology, skills...)

Red Devils – Belgian National Football Team Belgium, although a small

country has one of the best football teams in the World (FIFA world Ranking 3rd).

This is an outcome of continued efforts by the Belgian Authorities to foster talent and ensure the growth of sports in the country.

There have been sustained investments in sports infrastructure, skill development and management.

The Belgian « Red Devils »

Belgian Grand Prix, Francorchamps

Belgian footballers

Vincent Kompany, Manchester City FC

Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea FC

Marouane Fellaini, Manchester United FC

Dries Mertens, Napoli FC

Belgian Footballers

Eden Hazard, Chelsea FC

Kevin de Bruyne, VfL Wolfsburg

Thomas Vermaelen, Barcelona FC

Christian Benteke, Aston Villa FC

Belgian National Hockey Team The Hockey Team’s

greatest achievements in international tournaments to date are reaching six semifinals at the EuroHockey Nations Championship since 1995, including a third place in 2007 and runners-up in 2013, winning the champions Challenge in 2011

The team recently played in India for the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in December 2014 held in Bhubaneswar and earlier in January 2014 in Delhi for the Hero Hockey World League.

Belgian Field Hockey Team, London 2012

Tennis in Belgium Belgium has produced two

world n°1 women’s tennis players: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Except for the USA , no other country has ever achieved this.

Justine has won 7 Grand Slams and the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Game in Athens. Kim has won 4 Grand Slams and 2 Masters.

To carry forward this legacy of quality tennis, training academies have been opened in the country like Justine Henin Academy, Kim Clijsters Academy etc.

Justine Henin has in fact initiated a process to scout talent from India for training for her academy.

Justine Henin

Kim Clijsters

Cycling Cycling is a very popular

sport in Belgium. It is governed by the Royal Belgian Cycling League.

The best Belgian cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, nicknamed “the Cannibal”, has won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia 5 times each. Others of note are Tom Boonen, Philippe Gilbert, who won the World Championship in 2012.

Eddy Merckx, Tour de France, 1970

Tom Boonen, Tour de France, 2011

Philippe Gilbert, 2012 World Championship

Athletics

Kim Gevaert, 60M, Euro Indoor Championship, Madrid 2005

Tia Hellebaut, High Jump, 2008 Olympics, Beijing

The Borlee Brothers with Julien Watrin, 4X400M, European Indoor Championships, Prague 2015All these athletes won the gold medal at the respective tournaments.

Sports Infrastructure and Management in Belgium Focus has been placed on investing in both

‘sports for all’ category which provides access to training and equipment to all those who wish to play the game and ‘sports for elite’ category that train professional athletes.

Belgium-based companies are trusted contributors to the successful organization of major international sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship.

Continued.. Deep know-how and

advanced technologies

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Memorial van Damme at King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels 2014

Stadiums in Belgium Some of the best

stadiums are found in Belgium. Some of which are multi-purpose stadiums.

King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels

Jan Breydel Stadium, Brugge

Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liege

AGORIA: Sports Technology Club AGORIA’s Sports Technology Club groups

strong private players into a tight network that firmly puts Belgium-based know-how in sports technologies on the world stage.

The Sports Technology Club gives us a clear overview of latest technologies and innovative solutions of Belgian companies, clearly presented in a well-developed cluster area. In addition, each company has a proven track record in major events, which shows the involvement of Belgian solutions abroad.

AGORIA The member companies of the Sports Technology

Club cover a wide range of activities: from construction and sports equipment over hospitality solutions to media technology, and access control & security.

AGORIA provides them with business intelligence, increase their visibility and offer effective support in seizing international business opportunities.

ContactDiego Algaba, BUSINESS CLUB MANAGERdiego.algaba@agoria.be

Website: http://www.agoria.be/en/sports-technology

SUDEVA – Delhi Based Sport NGO Founded with the objective of

recognizing talents at the grass root level, and training them into world class Athletes of tomorrow.

Football & Tennis is the primary focus of Sudeva, and the NGO’s founders, Anuj Gupta and Vijay Hakari, concentrate on imparting sound coaching to young players, in both urban and rural areas.

Sudeva will be acquiring a Football Club in the Delhi Soccer League to create an opportunity for kids in the age group of 13-16 to play at competitive levels.

As a result of such acquisitions, these children from the NGOs/Government Schools who are trained and selected through this rigorous process, shall be trained in Regional and Elite Academies.

Sudeva Tennis Academy Contact Anuj Gupta A-6/21, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110057,

India. Phones: +91-11- 26144113, 26143592

Mobile: 91-8800722118, Web: www.sudeva.in