Our History

Where it all began

At the 2000 Laureus World Sports Awards, Nelson Mandela inspired the founding of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation when he declared:

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.”

Since our inception, Laureus Sport for Good has directly invested over $150 million into youth-serving programs around the world — from South Africa to Hong Kong to Argentina.

Laureus’s global network of foundations has collectively supported over 150 Sport for Good programs across 40 countries, reaching over 1 million youth.