The success of the 3nd Mediterranean Beach Games “Heraklion 2023” was confirmed at the Debriefing Seminar organized by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games in cooperation with the North Macedonian Olympic Committee at Skopje. Representatives of the National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Federations as well as ICMG stakeholders and delegations from the Organizing Committees of the Mediterranean Games “Taranto 2026” and Mediterranean Beach Games “Lagoa & Portimao” were present at the Seminar.

The President of the National Olympic Committee of North Macedonia Daniel Dimevski welcomed the participants and then, the ICMC Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis stretched the importance of the Debriefing Seminar in order to help the Organizing Committees of the next Mediterranean Games to gather valuable information and useful advice for the organization of the Games. “We learn from our mistakes and we will continue the successful practices for the benefit of the next editions of the Mediterranean Games” said Mr. Filippousis.

The ICMG Executive Committee member Cayetano Cornet awarded the “Special Trophy of the Mediterranean Games” to the NOC President Daniel Dimevski for his contribution to the development of the Mediterranean sports movement. Mr. Dimevski honored Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis for his efforts on the promotion of sports in the Mediterranean basin. The International Committee of Mediterranean Games also honored the volley ball player Vladimir Bogoevski and wrestler Mirko Dimchevski as winners of medals in previous editions of  Mediterranean Games.

Τhe President of the Organizing Committee “Heraklion 2023” Nikos Ntampakakis, the Executive Director Nikos Provias and Angeliki Giannakaki presented all the figures and numbers of the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games that took place in September 2023 at the island of Crete, Greece.

The member of the Heraklion 2023 Coordination Commission Ilias Dalainas, presenting the final report of the Commission emphasized that “the Heraklion 2023 Games were admittedly a well-organized event, the NOCs and IFs were satisfied and we have the opportunity to look at more specific information and numbers that will help us and help you in the staging of future editions of the Games”.

The presentation “Heraklion’s contribution to the evolution of the MBG” by Mohamed Zribi, President of ICMG Sports Program Commission attracted the attention of the participants and Stratos Karetos, Member of the ICMG Sports Program Commission, presented a detailed study on the three editions of the Mediterranean Beach Games: Pescara 2015, Patras 2019 and Heraklion 2023 with very useful data. Sašo Bertončelj, ExCo Member and President of ICMG Athletes’ Commission analyzed the Games from the athletes’ point of view.

Andreas Aristodemou, EBU Director of Olympics, presented via Zoom, the significant numbers of the TV production in the last two editions of the Mediterranean Games in Oran 2022 and in Heraklion 2023 and explained the importance of TV production, planning and distribution for the future of the MG and MBG.

The CEO of Microplus, technological partner of ICMG, Mauro Cedrani, analyzed the contribution of technology to Mediterranean Beach Games in the fields of Timing & Scoring.

Then, Carlo Molfetta, General Director of the Organizing Committee “Taranto 2026” presented the progress of the works for the next edition of the Mediterranean Games nd announced that the total budget for the Games will reach the 300 million euros in order to create a great legacy for Taranto and Apulia.

Finally, the “Portimão & Lagoa 2027” delegation, consisting of José Manuel Araújo, Secretary General of the Portuguese Olympic Committee, Anna Lucas, Head of Sports Department and Jose Albino, Mayor Chief of Staff made a presentation with important details for the next Mediterranean Beach Games.

All the parties agreed that this event has a lot of potential for development and could give a new impetus to the Mediterranean Games.