Cooperation with National Olympic Committees
It was 13 years of fruitful cooperation that IOC President Jacques Rogge and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres could look back on together during their recent meeting in Lausanne.
And in order to continue this successful partnership, discussions about current activities and future projects were on the top of the agenda.
New area of collaboration
“UNHCR has recently developed special programmes to address key problem areas which repeatedly occur in refugee camps, such as sexual and gender-based violence” explained Guterres during the closed-door meeting.
The IOC President showed deep interest and made a commitment to team up with UNHCR to empower women and girls in the camps through sport-based activities. In this context, there will also be preventive education on HIV/AIDS.
The IOC will support the UNHCR in its work on the African continent, intensifying cooperation with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) as a regional partner.
Two men, one vision
The IOC-UNHCR collaboration dates back to 1994, when both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Since then, the IOC has helped the UNHCR to provide sports assistance in refugee camps in 29 countries around the globe.
Jacques Rogge said: “Sport has a high social and educational value. We use this potential in the framework of our Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy. For the specific situation in refugee camps, we aim for sport to add value to the excellent work carried out by the UNHCR.”
Mr Guterres agreed, emphasising the importance of sport as a tool to bring together multi-
cultural and multi-religious communities. He praised the role sport plays in the promotion of tolerance.
‘Giving is winning’ campaign in the starting blocks
Giving is Winning is a joint IOC-UNHCR project in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
On 6 July, the two organisations launched the second phase of the Giving is Winning campaign
during the IOC Session in Guatemala City.
This aim of this joint initiative is to collect sports and casual clothing from the Olympic family which is then distributed by the UNHCR to various refugee camps around the world.
National Olympic Committees, Federations, sponsors, recognised organisations, members and supporters of the Olympic Movement are being encouraged to donate unused sports and casual clothes to be passed on to the UNHCR.
Looking ahead to the new Giving is Winning campaign, António Guterres said: “Many young refugees spend years languishing in bleak camps around the world. For them, the gift of sportswear associated with famous athletes from across the Olympic spectrum is a tremendous morale-booster and a sign that the outside world does still care.”
1988 SEOUL, Korea
Date: from 17 September to 2 October 1988.
Other candidate city: Nagoya (Japan).
Participants: 159 NOCs, 237 events, 8,391 athletes (6,197 men, 2,194 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Hur Jae (basketball), Son Mi-Ha (handball).
Olympic oath (officials): Lee Hak-Rae, judo.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Chung Sun-Man, Kim Won-Tak and Sohn Mi-Chung.
Officially opened by: President Roh Tae-Woo.
Emblem: traditional Korean motif, three swirls representing the meeting of peoples and progression towards world peace.
Mascot: Hodori (a tiger).
Despite a boycott by North Korea, which had wanted to co-host the Games, these games had the most participants in Olympic history and the greatest number of countries represented.
1992 BARCELONA, Spain
Date: from 25 July to 9 August 1992.
Other candidate cities: Paris (France), Brisbane (Australia), Belgrade (Yugoslavia),
Birmingham (Great Britain) and Amsterdam (Netherlands).
Participants: 169 NOCs, 257 events, 9,356 athletes (6,652 men, 2,704 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Luis Doreste Blanco, sailing.
Olympic oath (officials): Eugenio Asensio, football.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Antonio Rebollo (Paralympic archer).
Officially opened by: King Juan Carlos I.
Emblem: a stylised athlete in the throes of action, flying above an obstacle (the Olympic rings).
Mascot: Cobi (a dog).
Since Seoul in 1988, the face of the world had changed. The Soviet Union no longer existed;,Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were once again independent countries, Germany was reunified, Yugoslavia was divided into several republics and North and South Yemen had become one. All these new national groupings appeared in Barcelona. South Africa took part in the Games for the first time since 1960.
2000 SYDNEY, Australia
Date: from 15 September to 1 October 2000.
Other candidate cities: Berlin (Germany), Manchester (Great Britain), Beijing (China) and Istanbul (Turkey).
Participants: 200 NOCs, 10,651 athletes, 300 events, (6,582 men, 4,069 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Rechelle Hawkes, hockey.
Olympic oath (officials): Peter Kerr, water polo.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Cathy Freeman.
Officially opened by: the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane.
Emblem: The emblem represented all the elements of Australian culture: Australian colours, boomerangs, Sydney harbour, beaches, red earth and the indigenous inhabitants.
Mascots: “Syd”, a duck-billed platypus, “Millie”, an echidnea, and “Olly”, a kookaburra. These Games were the biggest in history: 10, 651 athletes competed in 300 events. North and South Korea paraded together under the same flag. Four athletes from Timor Leste took part individually under the Olympic flag.
2004 ATHENS, Greece
Dates: from 12 to 28 August 2004
Other candidate cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Cape Town (South Africa), Rome
(Italy) and Stockholm (Sweden).
Participants: 201 NOCs, 10,625 athletes, 301 events, (6,296 men, 4,329 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Zoï Dimoschaki, swimming.
Olympic oath (officials): Lazaros Voreaadis, basketball.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Nikolaos Kaklamanakis.
Officially opened by: President of the Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos.
Emblem: a crown made of an olive branch. It represented, through a characteristic Hellenic shape, the four values of the 2004 Games: legacy, participation, celebration and the human dimension.
The shot put competition was held in the ancient stadium in Olympia, while the marathon was staged on the historic route. The Olympic Torch Relay, which started in Olympia, was the first relay in the history of the Games to cross the five continents, before returning to Greece.
1996 ATLANTA, USA
Date: from 19 July to 4 August 1996.
Other candidate cities: Athens (Greece), Toronto (Canada), Melbourne (Australia), Manchester (Great Britain) and Belgrade (Yugoslavia).
Participants: 197 NOCs, 10,318 athletes, 271 events (6,806 men, 3,512 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Teresa Edwards, basketball.
Olympic oath (officials): Hobie Billingsly, diving.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Muhammad Ali.
Officially opened by: President Bill Clinton.
Emblem: the logo represented a flame composed of the five Olympic rings with the number 100 (centennial) at their base, and a whimsical flame ending in four stars.
Mascot: Izzy (original name “Whatizit”), a computer-generated, blue cartoon character. For the first time in Olympic history, all the recognised National Olympic Committees were represented at the Games. A record number of 79 countries won medals, and 53 won gold.
Maltese Sporting Heroes – MOC Hall of Fame
The Maltese Olympic Committee Hall of Fame recognises people who have contributed to Maltese sport at the highest national/international level for a long period of time, whether as an athlete, coach or administrator, and any others who have made an outstanding contribution to Maltese sport.
It also allows us to look back at our sporting heroes and recognise our great champions of sport. New members are elected to the Hall of Fame every year during the annual MOC Sports Awards, which will take place this year on 12 December. A call for nominees for this year will be made shortly.
In the first year since its institution the following members were inducted:
Ant. Cassar Torregiani
The first President of the Malta Olympic Committee, he was a well-known businessman who had a great vision for sport. Thanks to this interest, he gave the Malta Olympic Committee a good basis for the future.
Carmel Meme Busietta
A founder of the Malta Olympic Committee, he was the only athlete to lead a team in the Olympic Games when in 1928, in Amsterdam, Malta took part in the water polo and even managed to win a match.
Tony Nicholl
The legendary football player. Even though Tony has departed this life, his name is still widely known and he is still remembered not only for the great acknowledgements he received but also for all his achievements for Maltese football. He is considered as a legend among the Maltese for his talents and personality.
Eric Pace Bonello
The founder and President of the Malta Sub Aqua Club. In 1959, he organised the first World Championship of Underwater Fishing at which Malta came in 5th place out of a total of 19 countries.
Meme Scicluna
A great businessman who was of benefit to the development of football in Malta through his business. He used to organise the famous Christmas football tournament and rented the Gzira stadium in which all the matches of the highest divisions were held.
He introduced the Scicluna Cup in which all the participating clubs had a share of the spectators’ fee. He was awarded with the honour of the Order of the British Empire by King George in 1945.
Joe Griffiths
Synonymous with the Melita Club, of which he was captain in the famous final FA Trophy versus Sliema Wanderers in 1939 which was won by Melita. The founder of the Coaching School in Malta and also of the Association of Maltese Football Coaches. He was the first coach of the Maltese national team and played against the legendary national team of Austria.