OOPS. Your Flash player is missing or outdated.Click here to update your player so you can see this content.
| History |
 |
 |
 |
THE MEDITERRANEAN GAMES
The Mediterranean Games, organised every four years, stand as the greatest multidisciplinary sport event for the countries of the Mediterranean Basin after the Olympic Games, gathering the sport delegations of the Mediterranean NOCs members of the ICMG in more that 25 disciplines. These games offer the opportunity to young people from three Continents (Europe, Africa, Asia), different origins, cultures and religions, yet bound together by the Olympic Ideal, to come together in the same place. Despite all the problems, mainly political, arisen in the region, the Mediterranean Games have always been held in the scheduled dates and in the place chosen for this purpose. History of the Games The idea of a games organisation for the Mediterranean countries was launched by the President of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and Vice-President of the IOC, Mohammed Taher Pacha, with the assistance of the Greek Ioannis KETSEAS, also member of the IOC. During the 1948 Olympic Games in London, in a period spoiled by the tensions between big powers, Mohammed Taher Pacha presents the project to the members of the IOC, supporting the idea of sport as a pacifying, unifying factor. The first Mediterranean Games were held in Alexandria in 1951; the last edition took place in Pescara (Italy) in 2009. The following table shows: · The increase in the number of participant countries · The appearance of female competitors from the 1967 Tunis Games on · The organisation of the Games in France just two years after the Athens Games, as the majority of the NOCs wanted this competition to be held one year after the Olympic Games in order to enable their best possible preparation · A perfect balance in the organisation between the northern and the southern bank of the Mediterranean, until 2001. The I.C.M.G During the 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Games in 1959 in Beirut, the President of the Lebanese NOC and also I.O.C member, Gabriel GEMAYEL, who was responsible for the organisation, realised that the existence of the Games was fragile and decided on the creation of the ICMG, which officially intervened on 16 June 1961. This body is an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation, composed by NOCs members and IOC members for these countries. The first President was Gabriel GEMAYEL, followed by Mohamed MZALI (Tunisia), Claude COLLARD (France) and, from 2003 on, Amar ADDADI (Algeria). The General Secretariat function was provided, after Ioannis KETSEAS, by Epaminondas PETRALIAS, Nikos FILARETOS, Minos KYRIAKOU and, from 2009 on, Isidoros KOUVELOS, all of them Greek. The ICMG Headquarters are located in Athens. Until 2005, they were housed in the Hellenic Olympic Committee and have since then moved in premises provided by the Greek Government. The ICMG holds the property of the Mediterranean Games and elects every 4 years, 6 years before each edition, the city that will be entrusted with their organisation. It is currently composed by 24 NOCs members, as follows: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, Montenegro, San-Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey. Besides its essential role in the organisation of the Mediterranean Games, the ICMG: · Ensures the propagation of the Olympic Ideal in the countries of the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean Games are held under the auspices of the IOC · Attends to the fair equilibrium of rights and duties allocated to each bank of the Mediterranean, mainly as regards the composition of its structural bodies; the Executive Committee currently includes 14 members, 2 of which are women · Launches development and cooperation operations in the sports field in order to bring consistence to the levels of practice in the countries of the Basin · Aims at coordinating the positions of the NOCS members in the international bodies. Its symbol consists of three interlocked rings that represent the three continents and reflect on the water, symbolising this way the importance of the sea as a common and unifying element. It first appeared in the Mediterranean Games of Split in 1979. The ICMG is governed by the ICMG Charter, inspired by the Olympic Charter, which defines its operation, its goals and all issues pertaining to the Mediterranean Games. Its official languages are French, English and Arabic.
EDITIONS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN GAMES:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
