On June 6 in Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, Teresa Perales, Rudy Fernández, and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation will be honored at the ISDE Sports Convention 2025.
The Galileo Cultural Center, located in the Spanish capital, will host the sixth edition of the leading congress in the sports industry and sports law.
Madrid, May 26 – The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Paralympic swimmer Teresa Perales, former Real Madrid and Spanish national basketball player Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Fernández, and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation will be honored at the ISDE Sports Convention (ISC), whose sixth edition will take place on June 6 at the Galileo Municipal Cultural Center in Madrid.
This was decided by the General Assembly of the leading international congress on sports law and industry, organized by the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE) in collaboration with LaLiga. As every year, the ISC will recognize the most prominent athletes, authorities, and institutions for their significant contributions to the sector.
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, will receive the “Institutional Career in Sports” Award for his contribution to the development and improvement of sports infrastructure and for positioning the Spanish capital as a global benchmark for hosting major sports events such as, for the second consecutive year, the Laureus World Sports Awards, and the NFL regular-season game between the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders, to be held on November 16 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Madrid has also hosted the Mutua Madrid Open, the Longines Global Champions Tour—the most prestigious show jumping circuit in the international calendar—and will host the Acciona Open de España golf tournament in October and the Formula 1 Grand Prix next year at the Ifema circuit.
The award will also acknowledge Martínez-Almeida’s “exceptional leadership” at the helm of Madrid City Council and his institutional efforts over the past six years to promote the economic growth of Madrid, elevate it as the European capital of sport, and advance women’s and adaptive sports.
The “Sports Career” Award will go to swimmer Teresa Perales, the most decorated Spanish Paralympian in history with 28 medals, including seven golds, earned between the Sydney 2000 and Paris 2024 Games. She also has 20 medals from World Para Swimming Championships and received Spain’s highest sporting honor—the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit—in 2012, the same year she was flag bearer at the London Paralympics. In 2021, she received the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.
ISC 2025 organizers highlighted her “exemplary conduct” both in and out of the pool, her role as an ambassador of Paralympic and inclusive sports, and her humanitarian work, always reflecting values such as sportsmanship, respect, and perseverance.
The legendary Rudy and solidarity with DANA victims
Former basketball star Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Fernández will succeed two-time world marathon champion Abel Antón as this year’s “Sports Legend”. In 2024, Rudy concluded a storied career that includes two World Championships (2006 and 2019), four Eurobasket titles (2009, 2011, 2015, 2022), two Olympic silvers (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), and a bronze (Rio 2016). He is the first basketball player in history to participate in six Olympic Games.
Across 20 seasons in Spain’s ACB league with Joventut de Badalona and Real Madrid—and four seasons in the NBA—he earned three EuroLeague titles, an Intercontinental Cup, seven Spanish league championships, seven King’s Cups, and nine Super Cups, among other honors. ISC also recognizes his humanitarian work with children and underprivileged groups, as well as his efforts as ambassador for Plan International Spain’s “Because I Am a Girl” campaign and the global “Stop Child Poverty” movement.
Finally, the “Solidarity Institution” Award will go to the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation for its selfless support of those affected by the October 29 DANA storm and for launching the “Alcem-se Esport” aid program, helping Valencian sports clubs replace damaged equipment and relocate due to unusable facilities caused by the flooding.
Beyond this crucial humanitarian effort, the award also honors the Foundation’s long-standing support of grassroots sports, women’s and adaptive sports, and the scholarships it offers to Olympic and Paralympic athletes through its FER and FER+ programs. Under the slogan “The Great Valencian Dream,” the 13th edition of the program will provide €1 million in support to 140 athletes and coaches on their path to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The ISC 2025 honorees will receive their awards—designed and produced by Valencian firm The Medal Company, which has worked with the NBA, Spanish sports federations, World Championships, and the Mediterranean Games (Almería 2005 and Tarragona 2018), among others—during a ceremony presided over by ISDE General Director Juan José Sánchez Puig.
Last year’s awardees included the Community of Madrid (accepted by regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso), the women’s national football team (World Cup champions), former Real Madrid player Álvaro Arbeloa for his career with the club and the national team, and runner Abel Antón, two-time world marathon champion and Princess of Asturias Award winner.
ISC 2025: Key Topics in the Sports Industry
Targeted at senior executives from sports law firms, marketing and communications directors, and students specializing in sports law, ISC 2025 will once again tackle topics such as CAS leading cases; emerging sports formats like Kings League, Queens League, and the Super League project; the development of sports through the entertainment industry; the rise of African football and the 2030 World Cup (to be hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco); the fight against audiovisual piracy in sports; and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in elite sports.
Speakers will include Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga; Jorge Garbajosa, President of FIBA Europe; Sergio Scariolo, head coach of the Spanish basketball team; former Ghanaian international James Kwesi Appiah; Brian Wesala, CEO of the Football Foundation for Africa; former Minister of Culture and Tourism of Equatorial Guinea Guillermina Mekuy; lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo; and legal directors from LaLiga and FIBA, Kepa Larumbe and Jaime Lamboy, among others.
The sixth ISDE Sports Convention is sponsored by LaLiga, the Chamber of Commerce, CEOE, and the Madrid Bar Association. Tickets for ISC 2025, the leading event in sports law and industry, are now available here: