Movement functions as medicine—not metaphorically, but as an intervention with measurable outcomes.
In Majadahonda, on the same grounds where elite footballers train, Atlético Madrid has opened a research center dedicated to understanding how structured physical exercise can transform the lives of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. The initiative, three years in the making, reflects a growing conviction that sports science need not serve only the privileged few at the top of athletic performance, but can be turned toward those most often left at the margins. With ambitions reaching beyond a single facility to potentially 80 million people worldwide, the club is wagering that rigorous knowledge, openly shared, can quietly reshape what is possible for some of the world's most overlooked young people.
- Roughly 80 million people globally live with intellectual disabilities, yet sports science has largely treated them as an afterthought — this center exists to close that gap.
- High-performance measurement technology once reserved for elite athletes is now being deployed to track the physical, emotional, and mental changes in disabled youth who engage in structured exercise.
- The center's legitimacy rests on partnerships with specialized providers and a commitment to publishing findings openly, so the knowledge generated in Majadahonda can travel far beyond Madrid.
- Atlético's LaLiga Genuine team — composed of players with intellectual disabilities — already signals what is possible, lending the research a living proof of concept before the science is even formalized.
- The initiative is landing as a potential world reference point in disability-inclusive sports research, with the foundation targeting not just participants but the 200 million family members and caregivers surrounding them.
Atlético Madrid inaugurated its Research Center for Sport and Health this week at the Cerro del Espino complex in Majadahonda — the same training ground used by the club's first team. Known by its acronym CIDS, the facility is equipped with high-performance sports technology typically reserved for elite athletes, now redirected toward a different purpose: understanding how structured exercise affects children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities.
The project took three years to move from idea to institution. Club president Enrique Cerezo described the opening as a historic culmination of work by medical staff, physical therapists, and academy personnel. The facility was made possible through an agreement with Majadahonda's municipal government, which provided the public grounds where local youth teams also train.
The ambition is explicitly global. Luis Maicas, who leads foundation projects, noted that approximately 80 million people worldwide — around one percent of the global population — live with intellectual disabilities. The center's goal is not only to serve those who pass through its doors, but to produce knowledge that reaches those millions and, through their families and communities, potentially more than 200 million people.
The research methodology pairs measurement systems from Fisaude with training protocols from Matrix, designed to document the physical, emotional, and mental changes that emerge from regular exercise. Foundation ambassador Carla Pereyra framed movement not as metaphor but as medicine — an intervention with measurable outcomes. The foundation's LaLiga Genuine team, whose players have intellectual disabilities, already embodies that potential.
What sets CIDS apart is its insistence on intellectual disability as a primary research domain rather than a charitable footnote. Maicas emphasized that findings will be published openly and disseminated widely, positioning Atlético as a genuine reference point for the global sports science community. For the young people who will train there, the promise is concrete: better health, greater capacity, and a place where their development is taken seriously.
Atlético Madrid opened the doors to its Research Center for Sport and Health this week, a facility built on the conviction that rigorous exercise science can measurably improve the lives of children and teenagers with intellectual disabilities. The center, known by its Spanish acronym CIDS, sits within the Cerro del Espino complex in Majadahonda, the same training ground where the club's first team and B squad work daily. It is a space outfitted with the kind of high-performance sports technology typically reserved for elite athletes—now deployed in service of a different population entirely.
The project emerged from a three-year vision within Atlético Madrid's foundation, one that began as an idea and has now taken physical form. Enrique Cerezo, the club's leadership, framed the opening as a historic moment, describing it as the culmination of work by the club's medical staff, physical therapists, academy personnel, and the broader institutional machinery that Atlético has assembled. The facility exists because Majadahonda's municipal government, represented by mayor María Dolores Moreno, agreed to host it on public grounds where other youth teams and local clubs like Rayo Majadahonda also train.
The ambition extends far beyond a single facility in Madrid. Luis Maicas, who oversees projects for the foundation, articulated the scale of the challenge the center aims to address: roughly 80 million people worldwide live with intellectual disabilities, representing about one percent of the global population. The foundation's stated goal is not merely to serve the young people who walk through the center's doors, but to generate knowledge that ripples outward—to reach those 80 million individuals and, by extension, the families and communities surrounding them, potentially touching the lives of more than 200 million people.
The research methodology relies on partnerships with specialized technology providers. Fisaude supplies the high-performance measurement systems; Matrix contributes training protocols. The idea is straightforward in principle but demanding in execution: measure the physical, emotional, and mental changes that occur when young people with intellectual disabilities engage in structured exercise. Carla Pereyra, an ambassador for the foundation, emphasized that movement functions as medicine—not metaphorically, but as an intervention with measurable outcomes. The foundation's LaLiga Genuine team, which includes players with intellectual disabilities, has already demonstrated what she called the immense potential of football as a vehicle for inspiration and change.
What distinguishes this center from other sports facilities is its explicit focus on intellectual disability as a primary research domain rather than an afterthought or charitable add-on. Maicas stressed that the center positions Atlético Madrid as a world reference point—a place where research is conducted transparently, published openly, and disseminated to maximize global impact. The work is not confined to training sessions or competition; it is designed to generate publishable knowledge that other institutions, researchers, and practitioners can access and build upon.
Emilio Gutiérrez, director of the academy, grounded the initiative in the club's longer institutional mission: the expansion of Atlético's international brand has always been paired with a commitment to formative processes and athlete development. The center represents an extension of that logic—using sport as a tool to reshape habits and alter trajectories. For the young people who will use the facility, the promise is concrete: improved health, enhanced quality of life, and the chance to develop their capacities through an activity that has always been central to the club's identity. For the foundation and the researchers who will work there, the challenge is equally clear: prove that this works, document how it works, and share that knowledge with a world where millions of young people with intellectual disabilities remain largely invisible to the sports science establishment.
Citações Notáveis
Movement is medicine for creating physical, emotional, and mental change. Evaluating and strengthening it is our challenge.— Carla Pereyra, foundation ambassador
We want to be constant and transparent—to research, publish, and share knowledge so it impacts the world.— Luis Maicas, projects director for Atlético Madrid Foundation
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Atlético Madrid decide now was the time to build this center? What changed?
The foundation had been thinking about it for nearly three years, but they needed the right infrastructure and partners. They have the medical expertise, the training facilities at Cerro del Espino, and now they have the technology—Fisaude, Matrix—that makes rigorous measurement possible. It's not just about good intentions anymore; it's about being able to prove what works.
The numbers are striking—80 million people with intellectual disabilities globally, but the center is in one location in Madrid. How does that scale?
The center itself serves the young people who come through its doors, but the real product is knowledge. They're publishing research, sharing findings, building a model that other institutions can replicate. If they can document that structured exercise with high-performance measurement improves outcomes, that becomes a blueprint. The 200 million figure includes families and communities—the ripple effect.
What makes this different from other disability sports programs?
Most programs focus on inclusion or recreation, which matters. But this is explicitly research-driven. They're measuring physical, emotional, and mental changes with the same rigor applied to elite athletes. It's saying: intellectual disability deserves the same scientific attention we give to professional sports.
Carla Pereyra called movement "medicine." Is that just rhetoric?
Not entirely. In the context of intellectual disability, structured physical activity has documented effects on mood, cognition, and physical health. But calling it medicine means treating it seriously—measuring it, studying it, publishing results. That's different from just saying exercise is good for you.
What happens to the young people who use the center?
They train, they're measured, they're part of research protocols. But they're also developing skills, building confidence, and experiencing the kind of attention and structure that can genuinely change how they see themselves. The LaLiga Genuine team is an example—players with intellectual disabilities competing in organized football. This center is the research infrastructure behind that kind of work.