Why does a Sophia laboratory sponsor the Tonga rugby team?

2023-09-23 12:12:00

Tomorrow followingnoon, during the Scotland-Tonga rugby match, Fabrice Jover’s heart will beat for the Pacific team. “You can count on us to make some noise.”, assures the general director of the Sophia Antipolis pharmaceutical laboratory IBSA France. Even more than the supporters of the XV du Chardon. “I will be accompanied by a hundred of my colleagues and we will be at the Allianz Riviera in Nice, as close as possible to the pitch.”

Absolute rugby fan? “Not really, he smiles, rather footbally”even if he admits to liking the values ​​conveyed by this sport of thugs played by gentlemen.

Reveal talents

So why attend the match and train your employees? Because the pharmaceutical laboratory located in the Sophia Antipolis technology park has been sponsoring the Tongans since 2019. “The Tonga team is the fifteenth rugby nation in the world but it is also the poorest country among those qualified for this World Cup. For the 100,000 Tongans, rugby is a religion in the same way as faith and the family. Everyone, girls and boys, play it.” But often with little or no means: flip-flops for shoes and coconuts for balls.

“We saw something that interested us in the history of this country, 30% of which risks disappearing underwater by 2050 and which suffers up to five tsunamis per year”, summarizes Fabrice Jover. The sponsorship of the pharmaceutical laboratory goes further than paying for jerseys and other equipment. “From product sponsorship, it became institutional eighteen months ago.”

By this, IBSA France is working on the creation of a rugby academy intended to reveal the talents of Islanders, both men and women. The objective is also that the nations and clubs which come to draw from the pool of Tongan players pay a subsidy to the country. And help him live better. “You should know that 7% of Tonga’s GDP comes from rugby players who play abroad and who send money to their families, rtakes the manager looking for sponsors to carry out the project. For the moment, the Tongan authorities have just pre-empted the land, this is a long-term project.”

Handsailing regatta for children

The solidarity actions of the Sophia Antipolis laboratory are not limited to rugby. In addition to sponsoring the OGCN women’s team, it also organizes with the Société des Régates d’Antibes the first edition of the IBSA Regatta. The hand-sailing regatta for young skippers aged 12-17 which will take place on September 29 and 30 in Antibes. “The young people will be the sole masters aboard their boat, Hansa 303s, adapted to all types of disabilities, made available by IBSA France. I hope that we will help these young people to love sailing and for some of them to become the great navigators of tomorrow”specifies Fabrice Jover who regrets that the discipline is no longer on the program for the Paris 2024 or Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

While waiting to dive into the Big Blue next week, he and his collaborators will make a huge noise tomorrow in the stadium aisles. Failing to do it on the pitch with their favorite players.

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