The Council of the International Fair Play Committee held meeting
The International Fair Play Committee held its regular Council meeting in Budapest over the weekend on 21-22 April 2023. At the two-day event, participants decided on the winners of the 2022 Fair Play Awards and also an important, future-oriented agreement was signed.
The organisation, chaired by Dr. Jenő Kamuti, is 60 years old this year, and the Council meeting began with a ceremony to mark the occasion. After a long preparation, a cooperation was signed between the International Fair Play Committee and the Capital University of Physical Education and Sport in Beijing, focusing on teaching the values of Fair Play to students with the cooperation of the International Fair Play Committee as well as drawing attention to Fair Play through ongoing activities across the country. The ceremony was conducted simultaneously in Beijing and Budapest via video link. Jeno Kamuti, President of CIFP and Chen Zuosong, Vice President of Capital University of Physical Education and Sports (Beijing Institute for International Olympic Studies) delivered speeches.
‘This agreement is a milestone in our lives. China is a major player in the international sports scene, just thinking of the Olympic Games that have been held there; so I am really happy that we have managed to finalize this project, which is mainly thanks to Mr. László Vajda. I sincerely hope that we can raise the acceptance and recognition of Fair Play to a higher lever in this region, too.‘ – said Jenő Kamuti after the online signing ceremony.
The Council meeting, which was arranged in a hybrid form, was opened by Mr. Pál Schmitt, former member of the IOC and former President of Hungary. The participants, those who were present and those who connected online, approved the reports for the year 2022 and discussed the planned programmes for this year. Fair Play representation at Paris 2024 Olympic Games were also discussed. The mission of the International Fair Play Committee is to promote Fair Play to athletes, coaches and sport-leaders at world events, especially at international championships for young athletes, including the World University Games in this summer. This year’s highlighted event is the World Athletics Championships, which will be hosted by Budapest. For several years, our organisation in cooperation with World Athletics have been running a joint Fair Play Call for the World Athletics Championships and this will be the case in this August.
At the meeting, the Scientific Commission was formed, motivated by the increasing number of professional invitations and conferences, and the 2022 Fair Play Award winners were decided.
‘We have never received so many nominations as we have this year, which shows the recognition of this organisation and a good acknowledgement of our work. We are also grateful to the media, who are helping to spread the news and videos of Fair Play acts, raising the attention that the unscrupulous, trampling behaviour is not always the only way to go. As our slogan also says: Fair Play is more than victory!
27.04.2023
