International Fair Play Committee

Presidents

The CIFP is chaired by the President who is elected by the Council by means of secret ballot for a four-year term and may be re-elected without any limitation with regard to the number of successive or non-successive mandates. The President also performs the duties of President of both the Council and the Executive Committee and has full authority to represent the CIFP in all relations with third parties as well as in any legal proceedings. The job of the President is supported by two Vice-Presidents who are appointed by the Council.

The CIFP has had four Presidents since its foundation.

Dr Jenő Kamuti (Hungary), President of the CIFP from 2000-

Dr Jenő Kamuti was elected president of the CIFP in 2000. Born in 1937, he is married and has two children and five grandchildren. He is a surgeon by profession.

During his sports career he was a successful fencer. He was a member of the Hungarian foil team for 20 years (1956-1976) and won the World Team Championships in 1957. He was University Champion in foil four times and became an individual and team silver medallist in foil at the World Championships in 1961, 1963 and 1967. Also, he is a two-time Olympic silver medallist in foil (Mexico City in 1968, Munich in 1972) and he also won the World Cup in 1973.

Jenő Kamuti’s fair play history started as a young fencer whose career featured many fair play episodes. In 1956 during the Junior World Championships in Hamburg he lent his foil to his opponent and later lost the title match against him. In 1961 at the World Competition in Turin he did not take advantage of his opponent’s injury to win the match. A few years later in the National Championships final he assisted his opponent who was suffering from cramps and asked the judges to prolong the normal break time to allow him to recover. For all these acts of fair play he was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Trophy for his sport career in 1976.

Besides being a surgeon Kamuti has also pursued a career in sport diplomacy. He was first appointed as a member of the CIFP Administration Council in 1978 and as a result of his active collaboration he was elected president in 2000.

Biography

Date of birth: September 17, 1937

Marital status: married, 2 children, 5 grandchildren

Profession: surgeon

Sports career: two-time individual Olympic silver-medallist in fencing, foil (Mexico City in 1968, Munich in 1972)

World Team Champion in foil (1957)

Team and individual World Championships silver medallist in foil (1961, 1963, 1967)

World Cup Winner in foil (1973)

University World Champion in foil (1959, 1961, 1963, 1965)

Member of the Hungarian foil team for 20 Years (1956-1976)

Sports Administration: Member of the Executive Committee of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), 1986-2004

Secretary General of the FIE, 1992-96

President of the European Fencing Confederation, 1996-2005

Member of International Fair Play Committee Council, 1978-

President of the International Committee for Fair Play, 2000-

Member of the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), 1992-2005

Secretary General of Hungarian Olympic Committee, 2005-2007

Awards and distinctions: CIFP Fair Play UNESCO Trophy in 1978 for sports career

Louis Guirandou N’Diaye (Ivory Coast), President of the CIFP from 1997–1999

Louis Guirandou N’Diaye of Ivory Coast in West Africa succeeded Daume to the leading position. He was also President of the Ivory Coast Olympic Committee for 31 years and member of the International Olympic Committee since 1969. The IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, relied on him and others to help restore Africa’s participation in the Summer Games after a boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics over the issue of apartheid. N’Diaye was an influential figure in international judo. His reign as CIFP President was extremely short and his death in 1999 brought an abrupt end to a prosperous era in the life of the CIFP. The organisation had to face the constant evolution of sport that had become a global phenomenon confronted with economic realities and pressures in an ever-changing world.

Willi Daume (Germany), President of the CIFP from 1988 –1996

Willi Daume took over the presidency upon the invitation of Jean Borotra on 3 November in 1988. Daume was a German sports administrator who was elected President of the West German Olympic Committee and played an essential role in returning the Olympic Games to Germany after 36 years. The Games in Munich in 1972, however, were ruined by a terrorist attack. Daume was also IOC Member and carried out various activities in the International Olympic Movement.

Jean Borotra (France), Founder President of the CIFP from 1963-1988

Jean Borotra (13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was born in Domaine du Pouy, near Biarritz, Aquitaine and became a legendary tennis champion, one of the famous ’Four Musketeers’ who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was nicknamed the ’Bounding Basque’ and he won five Grand Slam singles titles during his sports career. He was victorious at the Australian, French and British Championships and the only GS trophy that eluded him was that of the US Open. He also played an essential role as member of the French Davis Cup Team. Along with his peers, the other three Musketeers, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.

Borotra also pursued a successful career in sports diplomacy. He became the first General Commissioner of Sports in his home country from 1940 to 1942. He was also a pioneer in the history of fair play as the International Committee for Fair Play was founded on his initiative in 1963. He recognised the importance of sport that has fulfilled the role of a catalyst in modern society and has had to be defended from violence, cheating and corruption.

Borotra led the CIFP for a quarter of a century. During his leadership the organisation became internationally recognised and developed remarkable partnerships with such prestigious governing bodies and institutions as the IOC and UNESCO.