Fine, so I made the last part of that up. The first part, however, is true, as Dimitri Chernyshenko, the CEO of the 2014 Winter Games, won an award named after longtime IOC boss (and former Francisco Franco supporter/Blueshirt) Juan Antonio Samaranch (more on him later). The award recognized the recruitment and development of the 25,000 volunteers that will be needed to help run the Games. This happened at the Global Sports Forum (which is held in Barcelona, Samaranch's hometown) and the award was but one of many given out on the night. What is the Global Sports Forum, you ask:
Officially supported by the City of Barcelona, the Global Sports Forum Barcelona is an exchange platform attracting a wide range of personalities from the world of sport. Thanks to its unique emphasis on the position of sport at the heart of modern society, the Forum is a place where people come together and debate issues, the aim being to highlight sport in all its dimensions: economic, social, political and cultural.
The Global Sports Forum Barcelona represents a magnificent opportunity to come together and make the most of a truly international platform:
1. Thematic clusters
Debates on long-term trends in sport and the burning topics on the day, with speakers from a variety of backgrounds proposing policy recommendations to be shared with the wider international sporting community.
2. Networking
A chance to meet and exchange views with people from the same fields and others from different environments.
3. Experience sharing
The Global Sports Forum Barcelona is the place to propose and share ideas, to consider new opportunities and put forward best practices in sport.
The Global Sports Forum Barcelona offers a warm welcome to:
- Sport federations, clubs and organisations
- Former and current athletes
- Political leaders and government representatives
- Representatives of local bodies
- Business leaders
- Marketing and sponsorship decision-makers
- Foundations, NGOs and charity organisations
- Health experts
- Academics and education stakeholders
So there. Man, 'thematic clusters' sounds super exciting, doesn't it. Basically, this is a lot of talking. Now, as for Samaranch well, he was a lot of things, but the one thing harped on by investigative reporters, primarily the UK's Andrew Jennings,
is his fascist past. In fact, Jennings and a colleague have more than one book exposing this aspect of Samaranch's past (something that is conspicuously missing from Wikipedia/his official Olympic bio) and the level of his involvement in the Franco regime. Nothing else to report here, just always enjoy a chance to point out Samaranch's fascist past. Hey, it got him the second-longest tenure atop the IOC and museum or two. Good on him.
No comments:
Post a Comment