The International Seminar entitled “The Mediterranean Games for Peace and Social Development”, organized by the Olympic Committee of Portugal (COP), was held in Paço de Arco, Lisbon, with the participation of 17 National Olympic Committees, members of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games.

Topics such as education and social development in the best interest of the athletes and the Games, ways to combine high-level sport with dual-career studies, Olympic education and social inclusion through sport were discussed during the Seminar and there was also a first evaluation of the Mediterranean Games of Tarragona (2018).

At the opening speech of the Seminar, José Manuel Constantino, COP President, pointed out that “this event is an opportunity to consolidate Portugal’s presence within the Mediterranean family and help expand knowledge on the Mediterranean by overcoming natural barriers”.

This year, the Portuguese team with more than 200 athletes participated for the first time in the Mediterranean Games of Tarragona, outlined the ICMG President Amar Addadi at the Opening Ceremony. Mr. Addadi highlighted the success of the Tarragona Games and made special reference to the future of the Mediterranean Games.

Marwan Maghur, member of the ICMG Executive Committee, pointed out the importance of gender equality, recalling to the participants that in the Games of Tunis 1967 there were only 38 female athletes while in Tarragona there were 1468, including 221 coming from the Arab countries. “There is still a lot of work to be done, as some countries did not include any female athletes in their teams at this last edition of the Games,” concluded Marwan Maghur.

The Executive Director of the Mediterranean Games 2018 and President of the ICMG Technical Committee, Victor Sánchez, presented a comprehensive overview of the preparation and organization of the Games, highlighting that in Tarragona the program of competitions increased from 19 to 31 sports! He also described the multi-faceted organizational and financial aspects of the Games.

Mr. Sánchez expressed satisfaction with the fact that the ICMG has now 26 members, and concluded by saying that “our Games can contribute to the creation of a better world”.

Dual Career was presented by Massimiliano Montanari, Executive Director of “Save the Dream”, and Ricardo Bendito, NOC Portugal Athletes’ Commission Advisor, who also presented the next Dual Career projects. They were followed by Rita Nunes and Joaquim Videira from the Research and Project Department of the NOC of Portugal, who presented the COP’s project on Olympic Education.

Maria Machado, Project Manager, and Marwan Maghur, analyzed the role of Sport in social and development policies and the work that needs to be done for the support and social inclusion of refugees through Sport.

A thorough analysis of the organization of the Mediterranean Games of Tarragona was made by Mariona Casals, Director of Finance and Human Resources, and by Eros Bologna, Secretary General of the Olympic Committee of San Marino.

The Seminar was completed with a presentation of the Mediterranean Beach Games by Stratos Karetos, member of the ICMG Technical Commission.