Press release:

Martina Navratilova donates sale of art to Laureus Sport For Good Foundation

LONDON, June 29, 2008 – Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is to donate funds raised from the sale of her Art Grand Slam paintings to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Laureus World Sports Academy member Martina made the announcement at the Laureus Wimbledon Summer Celebration, which was attended by fellow Academy members – Boris Becker, Edwin Moses, Severiano Ballesteros, Bobby Charlton, Daley Thompson, Mike Horn, Friend & Ambassador Kelly Holmes and Billie Jean King.

The works of art, produced in collaboration with Slovak artist Juraj Kralik, have been on exhibiton during the Wimbledon Championships and Martina is to give 15% of the proceeds of sales to the Laureus charity, which uses sport as the means to help disadvantaged young people around the world.

Martina said: “I have had so much fun doing this with Juraj, and now I hope I will be able to do something for Sport for Good. Laureus matters very much to me. I think we athletes always try to give something back to those less fortunate than ourselves because our sport has given us such a great life. It is tremendous that we can help kids to learn to be healthier, to have fun and to develop skills that will work for them for the rest of their lives.

“I hooked up with Juraj eight years ago. He had this idea of painting with tennis balls, so we do sculpting pieces and paintings on clay as well as hard canvas. For the most part we dip the tennis balls in paint and hit them onto a canvas, either as you would on court, so the imprint is long, or bounce them, or hit them against the wall to create different splatters.

“And we’ve been using the bigger, autograph balls to create a bigger splatter with different colour paints, and we do different designs like a tennis net and you hit balls over the net. We’re getting more and more abstract now with the creations and it’s a lot of fun. I don’t claim to be an artist, but the pieces have got a good artistic acclaim,” added Martina.

The mission of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is to fund and promote the power of sport to effect positive social change in communities around the world. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €15 million for projects which have helped improve the lives of more than 750,000 children. The Foundation supports over 60 humanitarian projects worldwide through its global foundation and a growing network of eight subsidiary foundations in Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. The Foundation addresses issues in particular involving, but not limited to, young people impacted by social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation, and education.

The Laureus World Sports Academy is a unique association of 46 of the greatest living sporting legends led by its Chairman Edwin Moses. The Academy members share a belief in the power of sport to break down barriers, bring people together and to improve the lives of young people around the world. They act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, volunteering their time to visit projects in order to draw attention to the problems afflicting society today.