Yunus Honoured by PSG Handball Club of Paris for Supporting Athletes and Sports World with Social Business

Yunus Centre Press Release (13 March, 2017)

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was invited by celebrated Paris Saint-Germain Handball Club (PSG Handball club) of Paris to watch the European Championship match against Kiel Club of Germany on March 12 as their honoured guest. PSG had been six times European Handball Champion.

Professor Yunus enjoyed the match which was easily won by PSG. Professor Yunus was invited by the club to meet the players at the end of the game to take pictures and was thanked for the support he is providing to the sports world. He was honoured by the club by adopting him as an honorary member of the Club and giving him the jersey of the club.  He is invited to watch all the games played by the club as the club’s honoured guest.

All the players greeted Yunus at the end of the game. Professor Yunus also congratulated them. They thanked Yunus for helping Paris to bring 2024 Olympic. On behalf of the club Olympic gold medalist Captain Thierry Omeyer gave the jersey of the club and adopted Yunus as a member of the club. They took a group photo with Yunus to make this moment as important moment of the club.

Professor Yunus also presided over a separate meeting held by Grameen Creative Lab (GCL) on the preparation for upcoming Global Social Business Summit to be held in Paris on November 6 and 7 this year. It was decided at the meeting that this year’s Summit will focus on introducing social orientation to the sports and athletic world. The summit will bring all these ideas to the Olympic of 2024 wherever it is held. If Paris is selected in September this year as the venue for the 2024 Olympic, Yunus Centre and GCL will work with Olympic organizing committee to give the best possible  social orientation to it to make it an unique Olympic experience.

During the global summit, a separate session will be held on the Olympic preparations. In addition it was decided that a big delegation of retired sportsmen and athletes will be brought who will start their life as entrepreneurs with support from a specially designed social business investment fund.  A delegation of sportsmen and athletes from Bangladesh will be brought by Yunus Centre to the summit in Paris to compete for receiving financing for their businesses.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus later attended the board meeting of Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation which was created nine years ago to promote microfinance all over the world. It is a joint venture between Credit Agricole, the largest commercial bank of France, and Grameen Trust of Bangladesh.

During the past nine years, the Foundation invested 37.05 million Euro in 50 microfinance organizations across 23 countries in four continents and in 15 Social Business Companies. Grameen Credit Agricole foundation will celebrate its Tenth anniversary next year. It was decided that Social Business fund which was created by the foundation to invest in social businesses, will focus its funding in Paris to build up Paris as social business city.

END