One hundred years of Grupo Desportivo de Maputo

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One hundred years of Grupo Desportivo de Maputo

12:10 CAT | 01 Jun 2021

Photo: O País

Grupo Desportivo Maputo (GDM) turned 100 on Monday. At the launch of the year-long centenary celebrations, the club’s president, Paul Ratilal, promised that management was working to stabilise the club and recover the mystique of the past.

Revisited and reviewed were a hundred years of glory, of memories and the training of some of the greatest stars of Mozambican sports that shone bright both within and outside the country. Among the guests attending the ceremony were many who had joined the eclectic club at an early age.

But, more than merely sporting success, Desportivo’s history stands out for having overcome racial barriers, transforming into an diverse club that imposed itself without needing the sponsorship of public companies.

In fact, according to Neves Correia, former chairman of the Directive Committee, it makes no sense to say that Grupo Desportivo Maputo was a family club. Correia says that GDM had always stood out as “a club where there was solidarity”.

Speaking on a panel entitled “GDM: 100 years: Past, Present and Future”, Correia said Desportivo Maputo has always lived on the sacrifice of its members. The club survived because of its fans’ affection, their “associativism”. One for all, and all for one was the motto of Grupo Desportivo de Maputo, a community which, more than aiming only for sporting success, sought to transmit great values.

“We served Desportivo Maputo with heart and soul. We gave much more than we received. It is this image that we would like to recover,” Correia said.

Dean of Mozambican sports journalism, Renato Caldeira, was one of the personalities invited to deliver his testimony about the centenary of the “Nation”.

Eloquent in the best of ways, Caldeira recalled that he practiced athletics at GDP and that he always envied the athletes who shone in the club. “You have to admire Desportivo Maputo. It was one of the first clubs to break racial barriers,” he remarked.

In times of a crisis which affects competition and destabilises management bodies, it is necessary to increase professional management, attract more partners and put ICTs at the service of the club. It is in this sense that some lines of action that will help stabilise Desportivo de Maputo were presented during the launch of the centenary celebrations.

“We launched the image of the centenary,” Desportivo Maputo president Paulo Ratilal outlined. “We are going to launch a new image that will translate into product availability with partners. We have new digital channels for the club. We will have a membership card in digital format. We are designing a digital store for the sale of club products. We are negotiating with several companies to showcase their brands on our advertising panels,” he explained.

Moza Banco supports basketball

In order for the club to be stable in the future, the board has signed sponsorship contracts with strategic partners committed to reviving the mystique of the past. Thus Moza Banco will support basketball, a modality with a long tradition in the club, with an initial investment of three million meticais.

Speaking to the press about Moza Banco’s sponsorship, administrator Manuel Guimarães said that, “it is gratifying for us to be here and to support Desportivo de Maputo. Our sponsorship aims primarily to improve conditions for men’s senior basketball teams and, in particular, training in the sport, so dear to all Mozambicans”.

“We include sports in the context of our social responsibility actions,” he added, “aware that it is an activity that brings together all Mozambicans, from the youngest to the oldest. And for that, credit is due to Mozambican sport, and to basketball in particular.”

Looking ahead, Guimarães said that: “Moza Banco will contribute to Grupo Desportivo Maputo through the rehabilitation and modernization of the club’s infrastructures, with special attention to the senior men’s and women’s basketball teams. Purchase of new equipment is already in hand.”

Celebrating the centenary of course found room for a birthday cake, its cutting by Mexer, the football player who was made at GDM and who today plays for French club FC Girondins de Bordeaux.

During the ceremony, the committee and others involved in organizing the centennial celebrations were honoured.

Grupo Desportivo Maputo was founded on 31 May, 1921, as Grupo Desportivo de Lourenço Marques. Over the years, the club has won titles in various modalities.

By Aristides Cavele

Source: O País