The Executive Committee of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG) reached significant decisions during its final meeting for 2025, held in Portimão, Portugal.
Due to the absence of the President, Mr. Davide Tizzano, the meeting was chaired by the ICMG First Vice President, Mr. Mehrez Boussayene, as announced by the ICMG Secretary General, Iakovos Filippousis:

“In my capacity as ICMG Secretary General, on behalf of the Executive Committee, I announce that due to the sudden onset of flu-like symptoms and a resulting loss of voice, the ICMG President Mr Davide Tizzano was unable to travel to Portimão and to take part in the meeting of the Executive Committee and he will also not be able to join the proceedings of the General Assembly, out of consideration for those in attendance.

During the Executive Committee meeting, Mr. Filippousis presented the activities of the ICMG over recent months, beginning with the awarding of the Order of Merit to the President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, for his decisive contribution to the successful organisation of the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Oran, and to world-renowned designer Boris Ljubičić, creator of the Mediterranean Games emblem in 1978.

He also:

Announced the progress of the Safeguarding Programme for the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games, fully aligned with the standards of the safeguarding programme applied to the Olympic Games.

Presented updates on the Mediterranean Young Ambassadors Programme (MYA), including the selection of the first ambassadors from five African National Olympic Committees: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Detailed the initiatives for environmentally friendly Mediterranean Games, emphasizing that clean seas must play a central role in the organization of both the Mediterranean Games and the Mediterranean Beach Games.

Presented the Sports Development Programme to be funded by the ICMG, which concerns 15 National Olympic Committees: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Cyprus, Egypt, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Montenegro, Syria, and Tunisia. The programme will be implemented immediately at the sports centre of Formia, in Italy. Each National Olympic Committee is eligible to participate with four female athletes and one coach, with female participation required to constitute at least 50% of all registered athletes. The list of individual sports included in the programme will be announced soon. The first selected Olympic sport is fencing.

He also announced the creation of a six-episode documentary series on the history of the Mediterranean Games, as well as a series of events in 2026 to mark the 75th anniversary of the first edition of the Mediterranean Games.

Finally, he noted that the bidding process for the upcoming Mediterranean Beach Games of 2029, 2031, and 2033, as well as for the 2034 Mediterranean Games, will open immediately, adding that many National Olympic Committees have already expressed official interest in hosting future events.

Treasurer Mr. Giotis Ioannidis presented the ICMG’s 2023 financial report, as well as the budgets for 2025 and 2026, all of which were unanimously approved. The ICMG has recorded surplus budgets every year since 2018.

Also unanimously approved was the proposal of the Chairman of the Communication and Marketing Commission, Mr. Alain Lunzenfichter, for the creation of a publication featuring the gold medallists of the Mediterranean Games and the Olympic Games. The creation of a Mediterranean Games Hall of Fame was also approved.

The decision to appoint Ms. Rejhan Halili from the Kosovo Olympic Committee as Deputy Chair of the “Women in Sport” Commission was likewise unanimous. The next meeting of the Commission will take place in early 2026 in Pristina.

The Executive Committee approved the logo of the “Portimão–Lagoa 2027” Mediterranean Beach Games and the sports programme of the Games, the initial master plan proposal for the 21st Mediterranean Games “Pristina 2030”, along with its sports programme and pictograms, and the strategic plan for the accommodation of delegations for the “Taranto 2026” Games.

The delegation of the “Taranto 2026” Games presented the progress of preparations. The Executive Committee highlighted existing delays in key organizational areas and requested that decisions in certain aspects of the Games’ preparation be expedited.