Opening speech of the President
On the occasion of the announcement of the World Fair Play Day, President of the International Fair Play Committee, dr. Jenő Kamuti gave an opening speech. Please, find it below.
" Dear sportfriends, athletes, Olympians, leaders, Honorable representatives of the Belgian and Brussels political authorities, dear Colleagues from the Fair-Play institutions,
I am inifinitely sorry that myself as a President of the International Fair Play Committee and also one of the parents of the idea of the implementation of World Fair Play Day, cannot personally be present at this announcement due to the border lock caused by COVID-19 virus. I would appreciate Your understanding.
I think that today event is an important step for the Fair Play movement. The first step is related to Jean Borotra, who together with his colleagues, set up the International Fair Play Committee in 1963, among the founders were UNESCO, AIPS, ICSSPE, and International Federations of Football, Basketball, Wrestling and Rugby.
Since then, the International Fair Play Committee, in accordance with the Olympic Charter, has been operating more and more strongly, with the help of which we try to educate honor and fairness for athletes and leaders.
In this spirit, we ceremoniously hand over World Fair Play Awards in different categories every year, with the help of which we set up examples, people and teams not only to the Olympic movement, but to all those interested in sports.
Among others, we honored Dr. Jacques Rogge, former President of the IOC, with a Fair Play Trophy for his career 3 years ago, who always operated his work in the spirit of Fair Play in order to promote it. When I was elected as the President of the International Fair Play Committee in the UNESCO Palace, he suggested : “Jenő, I wish you a successful job for which the best means is to find positive examples and share them with the public. This is my advice for your way.”
Jacques Rogge said in one of his opening speech at the Olympic Games that "the champion of champions is the one who prepares honestly, without doping, and always competes in the spirit of Fair Play". It was his Ars Poetica, as it is also ours.
This is today, when we announce that September 7 is now the World Fair Play Day, a milestone in the life of Fair Play, it is also extremely important for education.
I would like to express my special thanks to Philippe Housiaux, Head of Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles, who has been making the day, September 7, as a celebration of Fair Play for several years. That’s why we accepted his proposal to make 7th of September as a World Fair Play Day.
Finally I don’t think it needs to be proven that societies have never needed so much to promote the idea of Fair Play as they do nowadays. I wish that teachers, politicians, sport leaders from all over the world hear our exclamation, that everyone can identify with the idea of Fair Play not only in sport but also in civilian life. "
