“I hope everyone has a great time at the Web Summit”

Web Summit Chief Executive Paddy Cosgrave left today a message to launch the world’s biggest technology summit this week in Lisbon, hoping that the 70,000 participants will make the most of the event.

“We have people from all over the world, from Lebanon to Andorra, and I hope everyone has a great time,” said Web Summit co-founder, who was speaking at a meeting with journalists in Andorra. Foz do Lizandro Beach, Ericeira, under the Surf Summit.

Paddy Cosgrave said he is very “enthusiastic” about this third edition of the Web Summit and with the agreement that the summit will remain in Lisbon for the next ten years.

Asked by reporters about the absence of former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho Gaúcho at the Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave did not elaborate on comments, only stressing that “it is not possible to replace Ronaldinho” given his unique charisma and footballing career.

The announcement of the forced absence of Ronaldinho Gaucho was made this morning by the own Paddy Cosgrave.

“Without a passport, there is no Web Summit for Ronaldinho, unfortunately. There will always be next year,” the executive chairman of the event wrote in his official Twitter account, sharing news of the ex-players seizure of the passport.

Cosgrave added: “I hope everything goes for the best. Let’s miss it on the stage [of the summit].”

According to the Brazilian edition of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), Ronaldinho Gaúcho, as well as his brother, Roberto Assis Moreira, have their passports seized “due to the lack of payment of a debt related to damages environmental “.

At stake is a decision of the Rio Grande do Sul Court of Justice, based on the construction without environmental licensing of a quay on the edge of the Guaíba River, a protected area.

The third edition of the Surf Summit, an event that precedes the Web Summit technological summit, is taking place this weekend in Ericeira, allowing participants to get to know each other and learn from professional surf sports.

The technological, innovation and entrepreneurship summit Web Summit was born in 2010 in Ireland and moved to Lisbon in 2016 and is expected to remain until 2028 at the Altice Arena (formerly Meo Arena) and the Lisbon International Fair (FIL) in Lisbon.

Around 70,000 participants from more than 170 countries are expected to attend this third edition of the event in Portugal.

This year’s edition takes place between November 05 and 08.