On the 1st of January 2006, the 28th edition of the Dakar Rally will set off from Lisbon. This prestigious motor sport event is sure to strengthen and promote Lisbon and Portugal’s image abroad. One man stands behind this triumph for the nation, and his name is João Lagos.

Sport has been an integral part of João Lagos’ existence from an early age, developing quite naturally into a way of life, especially following his career as a professional tennis player. Tennis matches were a vital part of weekend trips taken with his large family to his grandfather’s house in Cruz Quebrada, close to the current National Stadium, and quite possibly the reason behind his competitive spirit and fervent desire to achieve the most ambitious of goals. João Lagos has honed the skills of a professional athlete and converted them for successful use in the business arena: “Bringing the Dakar Rally to Portugal is like winning a medal in an international or Olympic event,” he reveals.

His satisfaction is plain to see, but this isn’t the first time he’s proved his prowess. Major international tennis events, such as the Estoril Open and the Masters Cup, would never have taken place in Portugal if it were not for this man, and it doesn’t end there. The company he manages is also responsible for organising the Tour of Portugal bike race. He was also in charge of the Portuguese Golf Open for fourteen years, and, thanks to Lagos, the seaside town of Figueira da Foz was host to the World Surfing Championship events for two years.

With relation to this particular event, João Lagos emits a sense of nostalgia and disenchantment given that Portugal lost its right to host the championship after failing to ensure private or public backing. “It was a fatal error due entirely to a lack of vision,” he laments. “Our coastline is a magnificent natural stage for holding events, that can take advantage of our outstanding geographical characteristics, without the need for any major investment. Holding one of the ten events that make up the World Surfing Championship — and one of only three in Europe — provided the country with an extraordinary promotional tool, one that could have enabled it to attract a very interesting target market, one with its own particular lifestyle.”

For João Lagos, sport is one of the main avenues with which to promote Portugal abroad, “above all with regular events that attract a lot of media coverage”. This is the vision that has guided him for many years and one that has reaped him several rewards, such as the Estoril Tennis Open and the Portuguese Golf Open. Expo 98 also worked as a catalyst for him and many other promoters in bringing major events to the country. “The secret lies in keeping the pace up,” he admits, and so he was very pleased when Euro 2004 came to Portugal, despite the major investment necessary in building new stadiums. The thought that this sort of event may never have taken place is unthinkable, especially given the huge promotional advantages it brought to the nation.

He reveals the anguish he suffers on the many trips he makes abroad when people still mistake Portugal for part of Spain, although this, he admits, seems at last to be improving. “Sport is a tool that should be used to assert our identity and communicated more efficiency,” he assures.

Portugal is definitely in fashion, he believes, and feels that it is imperative that it stays that way given the benefits it can bring to Portugal’s economy in terms of tourism and attracting foreign investment. “Lisbon is turning into a modern and cosmopolitan capital and today it is spoken of with a respect that never existed before.”

In recent years the country has heavily invested in the creation of facilities necessary to sustain this cosmopolitan image. Expo 98 was a vital ingredient in this process with the urban redevelopment programme it entailed for Lisbon and the consequent construction of essential event facilities. “Without the Pavilhão Atlântico we would never have been able to hold the Masters Cup and the World Junior Basketball Championship. Lisbon’s place on the world music and entertainment circuit, attracting major names such as Madonna, is equally as important as these sporting events,” Lagos enthuses. Despite the importance of this urban venue, he also points to the need for other such facilities, such as a suitable venue for his Estoril Open, or even the redevelopment of the Estoril racetrack so that one day Portugal may regain its position on the Formula 1 circuit. On the whole the outlook looks good. “We need to know how to make the most of what we have and to use the natural conditions the country affords us with intelligence and imagination without having to make any further investments.” The World Surfing Championship and the Lisbon-Dakar rally are certainly a step in this direction, he feels.

But what role should the state play in creating and promoting the new look Portugal? João Lagos admits that he has received state support for events that attract the greatest media interest. He emphasizes the enthusiastic support he has received from Lisbon City Council, and in particular from former mayor, Pedro Santana Lopes. He does however feel that even though the state doesn’t necessarily need to be involved in promotion per se, it should play a more active role in creating opportunities for promoters to latch on to, and especially those who have sufficient know-how to organise major events. Currently the state only gets involved in a project when it has already been arranged by a private concern and usually there is an element of secrecy to the whole affair.

Secrecy certainly played its part in Lagos’ negotiations with the company that organises the Dakar rally. The news of Lisbon’s role in the event was announced to an unsuspecting public. So how did Lagos swing it? “A fortunate combination of factors. Portugal’s current reputation, especially in Europe, thanks firstly to Expo 98 and then subsequent events, such as Euro 2004, was very important. Urban improvements carried out in Lisbon have also helped.” But these are but few of the factors needed in securing this coup. João Lagos knows a lot of influential people in the international sporting world, thanks mainly to his tennis and subsequent business career. One in particular is the CEO of Amaury, owner of Europe’s main sports newspaper L’Équipe — which João Lagos confesses to reading daily — and organiser of the Tour de France, the French Golf Open and...the Paris-Dakar rally. “I’ve known this man for some time now. When he first started organising the French Golf Open we’d already been organising the Portuguese Open for years. Curiously enough we were planning to organise the first Tour of Portugal at around the same time, the French version of which he’d been organising for ages. We offered to share each other’s experiences and even back then, without any thought of Dakar, we spoke of organising something together one day.”

It was Joana Lemos, just as she was leaving Granada, who first came up with the idea of bringing the Dakar to Portugal. Discretely João Lagos began to make enquiries. He added one other motive to his growing collection: the experience he gained with the Bajas organised by José Megre.

Portugal’s leading sports entrepreneur sees Dakar as a victory that should be shared with the entire population, one that can only benefit the country as a whole. More than satisfied with his latest conquest, he bubbles with enthusiasm: “I’m still learning things about the Dakar rally. Everyday I’m surprised with the positive feedback I get from various parties.”

As for future plans, Lagos informs us that his current goals are to make Lisbon a regular feature in the Dakar rally — following his conviction that we should back regular events as opposed to one shot affairs — and to ensure that the Estoril Open gains a venue that better reflects its status, a permanent complex, built from scratch. When asked as to new projects or a dream he might like to make true, he replies with a smile: “secrets are the secret of success.”

Text  Carla Marreiros
Photos  Paulo Barata