Josep Elías

Josep Elías Juncosa (27 May 1880 – 28 January 1944) was a Spanish sports journalist and athlete, who played football as a midfielder for FC Barcelona between 1900 and 1903, although he never played an official match for the club.

He was the first sports journalist to write in Catalan, he contributed to practically all the newspapers and magazines of his time and was, together with Narciso Masferrer, the true promoter and driving force behind the sports press in Catalonia. He was also one of the greatest promoters of sports in Catalonia in the first third of the 20th century, helping to create a multitude of sports federations, such as the Spanish Cycling Union, the Spanish Gymnastics Federation, the Catalan Sports Confederation, and also several clubs, such as the Barcelona Swimming Club, FC Barcelona, Sportsmen's Club, Catalunya Lawn Tennis Club, and Hiking Club of Catalonia.

He was involved in other projects of crucial importance for Spanish sport, including the creation of the Olympic Committee of Catalonia in 1913, and some even consider him as the most important figure in the Olympic history of Spain, since his numerous lectures on Olympicism and sports pedagogy in the 1910s had a great impact and forced the Spanish Olympic Committee to get to work to bring a delegation to the Olympic Games after failing to do so in the previous edition of 1904, 1906, 1908, and 1912. Provided by Wikipedia