VINCI kicks off Group employee sponsorship of Paris FC Academy

15 February 2016 - 2:49 pm - Events - France

This Monday, Pierre Coppey, Chief Operating Officer of VINCI, and Pierre Ferracci, president of Paris FC, kicked off the VINCI employee sponsorship of the Paris FC Academy, a structure devoted to training young players at the French capital’s football club. This ambitious socio-educational project that ties the club – recognised for its training excellence and reach spanning the entire Greater Paris region – to a global player in the field of construction and concessions that employs more than 20,000 people in the same region. This is an unprecedented initiative in the world of football.

VINCI, Paris FC’s “training partner”

The socio-educational project that will unite Paris FC for the coming four seasons with VINCI, already a club partner and principal sponsor, is designed to support and assist with the training provided at the Paris FC Academy to young players. The aim is to build sustainable professional career pathways by promoting diversity and equal opportunity. As Pierre Ferracci pointed out, “the arrival of a young man in the world of football must always be a tremendous opportunity for personal fulfilment. But, given the highly selective nature of this sport, few finally make the cut; so it is the responsibility of the training club to enable its young players to maintain strong ties with the business world at every step in their training, in addition to their sports programme. In this way, they are better equipped and more open to turning, as early as possible, to a career path off the football field.”

With this aim in mind, some sixty VINCI employees volunteered to sponsor the Paris FC Academy students. Their role, alongside the 15 permanent supervisors on the teaching team, will be to encourage openness onto the corporate world and the future insertion or occupational retraining for these 59 young men aged between 14 and 20, whose educational level ranges from 3rd year secondary school to advanced technical certificate.

For Pierre Coppey, Chief Operating Officer of VINCI, “the commitment of VINCI’s employees to these young people at the Academy is the start of a fine human story. VINCI and the Paris FC share the same culture around training and learning. This sponsorship approach will provide an opportunity to build new bridges between the world of sport and the world of business, and to create an arena for discussion, openness and solidarity that will be a source of mutual enrichment and social integration.”

VINCI: committed player in the world of sport

The Group’s affiliated companies have been supporting sport for several years. VINCI Construction France and VINCI Energies support Racing Métro 92; Eurovia is a partner of the French Athletics Federation; and VINCI Autoroutes, signed a framework agreement with the French Ministry of Youth and Sport on the retraining of high-level athletes.
VINCI also holds several stadium concessions and operates stadiums like the Stade de France, the Allianz Riviera Stadium, the Matmut Atlantique Stadium in Bordeaux, and the Olympic Stadium in London. VINCI has a specialized business unit, VINCI Stadium, which helps stadiums realize their economic potential (naming, marketing, events). Lastly, the Group builds sports facilities all over the world, ranging from municipal gymnasiums to stadiums for Euro 2016.

Press contacts:
VINCI
Press Department: +33 1 47 16 31 82
media.relations@vinci.com

Paris FC Kévin Briand : +33 7 86 97 88 22
kevin.briand@parisfootballclub.com

About VINCI

VINCI is a global player in concessions and construction, employing more than 185, 000 people in some 100 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, above and beyond economic and financial results, we are committed to operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities.
www.vinci.com

About Paris FC

Founded in 1969, Paris FC has been playing in the French 3rd division during the 2014-2015 season. Paris FC has its roots in the Eastern suburbs of Paris. The club is identified with the successful school and professional careers of its young players, extensive outreach to local communities and educational support. Year after year, Paris FC strives to enhance its reputation as a beacon of social and professional development for the young men and women who play for the club. While aiming to turn out well-rounded youngsters who will find their place in the world of tomorrow, the club maintains keen sporting ambitions. Given the excellent national results of its junior teams, the club is aiming for rapid promotion to the French 2nd division, thereby generating a sense of achievement among its stakeholders by becoming Paris’ second professional football club. Professional status will also make it easier for the club to keep its best players and shape its future by pursuing a unique training policy, already highly reputed in the world of amateur sport.
www.parisfootballclub.com