Successful Fair Play Congress in Baku

The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) and the European Fair Play Movement (EFPM) jointly organised a fair play Congress with the main topic of "Fair Play in Competitive Sport - Making it Real or just an Ideal" in the beautiful city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on October 8-9, 2015. 

The Congress was held under the patronage of European Olympic Committees (EOC) and the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE). It was the first time that the two main Fair Play Organizations, namely CIFP and EFPM joint their efforts and organized a joint event, combined with the annual World Fair Play Awards Ceremony and the European Fair Play Awards. The local organizers - the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan and its Fair Play Commission, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Culture and Sport – ensured that all the international and local participants could experience the outstanding hospitality and expertise of Azerbaijan and showed that the values of fair play are of the utmost importance for the local sport leaders. Special thanks goes to the Azerbaijan NOC Vice-President Mr. Khazar Isayev and his team, coordinated by the event’s director Ms. Salhat Abbasova, to all the volunteers and technicians. 

Four subtopics were discussed during two days:

– Strategies and Policy Development in Good Governance in Sports

– The Role of Formal and informal Education in Preserving the Values of Ethics in Sports

– The Cooperation and Responsibility of Governmental and Non-governmental Sports Organizations in Preserving the Olympic Values of Sport and Fair Play, and
– Best Practice in the Fight against Corruption, Cheating and Match-Fixing and Protecting Clean Athletes.

The Program:

The opening speech was given by Mr Khazar Isayev in his capacity as Chair of the Fair Play Commission of the Azerbaijan NOC. He was followed by followed by

            Azad Rahimov, Minister of Youth and Sports

            Christian Hinterberger, President of the EFPM

            Dr Jeno Kamuti, President of the CIFP

 Invited keynote speakers:

Session 1

            Michael Pedersen (DEN): “Good Governance in Sport: An International Perspective on Why, What and How”

            Elmar Huseynov (AZE): “Regulation Mechanism for Fair Play Values in Modern Sports”

            Birgittta Kervinen (FIN): “The Importance of Effective Governance for Fair Play”

 Session 2

            Lieke Vloet (NED): “How to embed Sportsmanship and Respect with Sports Governing Bodies through Sustainable Interventions – The System in the Nederlands”

            Elchin Huseynov (AZE): “The Role of Social Activity in Professional and Spiritual Development of athletes”

Session 3

            David Hemery (UK): “The Importance of Values in the Promotion of Fair Play, Player Responsibilities and Athletic Achievement – Practical Examples from Government and Non-Government Sectors in Education and Business”

            Anne Tiivas (UK): “Safeguarding Children in Sports”

            Salhat Abbasova (AZE): “Sport Builds Bridges: But How Do We Build Strong Bridges?”

Session 4

            Zoran Verovnik (SLO / EPAS Council of Europe): “Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions”

            Gahraman Mammadyarov (AZE): “Fair Play in Sport – An Ideal to which we should strive”

            Steve Town (UK): “An Overview of Initiatives and Evaluated Guidelines in Europe and the U.K. to Promote an Environment that Protects Clean Athletes and Promotes Pure Play in order to Prevent Doping in Sports”

Short Papers:

            Jose Lima (POR): “National Plan for Etrhics in Sport – Portugal – Two Good Practices Promote a Set of Pedagogical Initiatives for Teachers and Coaches on Ethics and Values in Sport”

            Wieslaw Firek (POL): “Organization and Financing of Sports for All in Poland by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism”

            Lilla Adam (HUN): “Spirit of a Champion – How to Teachthe Values of Fair Play to Young Athletes”

            Maurizio Monego (ITA): “Implementing Values in Panathlon Activities all over the World”

            Kazim Aliyev (AZE): “The Modern Teaching Methodology in Sports”

            Katarzyna Ploszai (POL): “Role of the Olympic Clubs in Informal Education”

            Albert Buisman (NED): “The Share in Leadership and Decision Making in Sport Participation – A Mission Impossible in Youth Sport?”

            Sevim Gülü (TUR): “The Universities Fair Play Roadshow: A Project by the Fair Play Commission of the NOC of Turkey”

            Rufat Gadimov (AZE): “Expression of Special Meaning of the Fair Play Values in Training Modern Youths”

            Romana Caput – Yogunica (CRO):“Living Fair Play – Cooperation of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport”

            Ragif Abbasov (AZE): “The Modern Olympic Movement is well developing in Azerbaijan”

            Khazar Isayev (AZE): “The Development of Fair Play and Transparency in Sport is very Important”.

            Morana Brkljacic (CRO): “Fair Play as Moral Category for the Games”

            Katarina Raczova (SLO): “Sport is Beautiful. Don’t Destroy our Illusions!”

            Charles Camenzuli (MLT/AIPS EUROPE): “Media Development vis-a-vis the Olympic Games – The Future”.

Poster presentation:

Mr. Yutaka Miura (JPN): “The Olympic Winter Games – Impact and Responsibility for the Natural Environment as Assessment of Previous Games and Recommendations for a Sustainable Future”

Panel Discussion:

The panel discussion, as the last program point of the Congress was moderated by Mr. Charles Camenzuli, General Secretary of AIPS Europe. The panelists were Ms. Birgitta Kervinen (FIN), Ms. Salhat Abbasova (AZE), Ms. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (AUS), Mr. David Hemery (UK), Mr. Bert M. J. van de Flier (CIFP) and Mr. Christian Hinterberger (EFPM).

You may find the presentations here.