The meeting of the ICMG Executive Committee held in Zagreb, Croatia, was historic as the application of the Code of Ethics was unanimously approved for the first time in the history of the ICMG.

The proposal, putting forward institutional changes that will modernize the ICMG and will give it a leading role in the global sports movement, was made by the President of the Ethics and Juridical Commission Francesco Purromuto. At the same time, the proposed amendments to the ICMG Charter were also accepted in order to be in line with the new Code of Ethics.

“I wrote the text myself and we discussed it with the members of the Commission during a meeting in Athens. The work is not yet finished but I am proud to have contributed to such an important issue for our Organization,” said Commission President Francesco Purromuto.

The ICMG Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis underlined: “Congratulations on the result of the highly professional work carried out by the Commission, especially since we know how many hours have been devoted to this project. The Code of Ethics is a fundamental step forward for our Organization. Although mentioned in our Charter, it has never been presented to our members before and now we are well on our way to modernizing the ICMG in line with IOC rules, safeguarding the future of our Organization”.

President Davide Tizzano congratulated the Ethics and Judicial Commission and its President Francesco Purromuto, for the content of the Code presented. The Code of Ethics will be submitted to the approval of the next ICMG General Assembly.

The Executive Committee also accepted the request of the Organizing Committee of the Mediterranean Beach Games “Heraklion 2023” to move the dates of the Games from September 2-9 to September 9-16. The sports program of the Mediterranean Beach Games was also approved without the water ski competition due to the limited participation and it was decided to increase the number the visits to Heraklion to check more closely on the progress of the preparations as there are only six months left until the opening of the Games.

The ICMG Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis proposed the organization of a Congress on the future of the Mediterranean Games with the participation of the National Olympic Committees, the International Sports Federations, the members of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games, experts in the field of marketing and communication as well as the athletes. Τhe main topic will be the progress of the world sports movement and proposals will be made for the development of the Mediterranean Games and their sports program. The proposal was unanimously accepted and a working group will be set up to organize the Congress with President the 2nd ICMG Vice President Bernard Amsalem and Saso Bertoncelj and Elif Ozdemir as members.

The recommendation of the Sports Program Commission for the establishment of a stable sports programme in the Mediterranean Games which will begin in Taranto 2026 was also unanimously accepted. It was decided to elaborate a program with 24 sports. The Organizing Committee of each Mediterranean Games can propose three sports, while ICMG can propose two other sports which are development rapidly, have low cost and are popular among young people.

The 24 proposed sports are: Athletics, Basketball 3X3, Bowls, Boxing, Cycling, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Handball, Judo, Karate, Wrestling, Finnswimming (in the pool), Swimming, Taekwondo, Tennis, Table Tennis , Shooting, Archery, Sailing, Volleyball, Water Polo, Rowing.

As a gesture of solidarity and support for the National Olympic Committees of Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquakes, it was decided to allocate the entire budget of the ICMG Solidarity, Culture and Education Commission to the support of athletes from the two countries.

Finally it was announced that the Debriefing Seminar of the Mediterranean Games “Oran 2022” will take place in Podgorica, Montenegro on April 21-23.

Before the begining of the Executive Committee meeting, President Davide Tizzano thanked the President and Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee Zlatko Matesa and Siniša Krajac for the hospitality in Zagreb. “I want to thank you for the excellent organization of the Executive Committee meeting. Croatia is a country with a long history, especially in sports, and we are happy to hold our meeting here.”

Croatian Olympic Committee President Zlatko Matesa replied: “It is a great pleasure to welcome the Mediterranean family and I want to thank you for coming to Zagreb. I also want to congratulate you on the organization of the Mediterranean Games in Oran. The specific games took the organization a step forward and in Taranto in 2026 we will all celebrate together the 75th anniversary of the Mediterranean Games. We must always remember that apart from the sporting side, the Mediterranean Games are a bridge of friendship for three continents”