President Pierre Zappelli attended the International Board meeting held via videoconference on Thursday 28 April at the headquarters in Rapallo, together with General Secretary Simona Callo. The Board unanimously approved the reports that will be discussed and voted at the upcoming General Assembly meeting (Lausanne, 11 June), as well as the financial statements 2021, the budgets 2023-24 and the membership fees for the next two years, that will remain unchanged. The documentation will be sent to all the Clubs by next May 10, jointly with the notice of the Ordinary Meeting. The Board also definitively approved “PI’s Development Plan” for the next four years which will be submitted to the Assembly. The Board was also given some preliminary feedback about the results of the Survey developed by the Expansion Commission; the Survey gathered an encouraging consensus: as a matter of fact, more than 10% of the members participated and expressed their ideas and opinions about PI’s bodies and the goals of our Movement. The Board also confirmed the winners of the Communication Award (whom will be announced in a separate circular letter and will be presented their awards just before the Gala Dinner at the Auditorium of the Olympic Museum) and discussed about the upcoming events: Symposium “Fair Play restarts from schools” on 15 May in Rondine – Cittadella della Pace (AR); General Assembly Meeting in Lausanne, 11 June; District Presidents’ Committee and International Board meetings in Beausoleil (France), 28-29 September; Flambeau d’Or award ceremony and International Congress, in September too; Pan-American Congress in Cochabamba (Bolivia), 4 to 6 November 2022. The Board then took note with regret of the resignation of Elaine Cook, Chair of the CCSE, who stated she could not follow up in her position for work-related reasons. The President and Eugenio Guglielmino, IB and CCSE member, will convene an online meeting with the members of the Commission to discuss about how to proceed. After further reviewing the Final Document of the District Presidents, the Board discussed about the possible partnership with One-Ocean which could lead to new developments. The meeting ended on an exchange about Russian and Belarussian athletes and about their exclusion from international competitions. Though agreeing with the IOC decisions and in order to give a voice to the differences in sensitivity within Panathlon, the Board asked the Editor of the Magazine to launch a debate on the matter, on the lines of what was done for the e-games.
The following day, Friday 29 April, the International Board met the Governing Board of Fondazione PI-D.Chiesa. PI President, who also serves as President of the Foundation, stressed that this joint Board meeting should become a structural and institutionalized event so that the two bodies may meet, at least once a year, to exchange their views and ideas for the purpose of sharing information and of developing joint actions.
During the meeting, it was also highlighted how the Foundation is an “added value” for Panathlon International and how the two entities are deeply connected. To the point that PI decided to establish a provision, which the Foundation may use starting from the current year, with the aim of making the bond between P.I. and the Foundation even stronger and more recognizable by creating new possibilities to increase the number of actions and projects.
The debate focussed on the lack of knowledge of the Foundation and the Domenico Chiesa Award as well as on the resulting indifference and incomprehension, despite the “Introduction to the Foundation” slideshow having been distributed and published also through Panathlon International’s website. It was agreed that much greater effort must be made to increase knowledge, especially by building a pool of trainers. COMMUNICATION and TRAINING were the two keywords in the discussion.
We will have to use all available opportunities at P.I. events to communicate about the projects and initiatives undertaken by the Foundation, also in order to promote Panathlon International.
It was then underlined that the Domenico Chiesa Award is the most prestigious distinction, after PI’s Flambeau d’Or, awarded by the Clubs to sporting personalities who have honoured Panathlon’s principles and values.
The great shared potential of both Panathlon International and the Foundation was further highlighted: from the vast collection of images that could be used by the Clubs to the possibility to access the university circles through the PCUs, or the example of the last Photo Contest 2022 with the Photo Exhibition hosted by Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), or the opportunity to provide various types of educational and teaching materials to be used in schools or at events attended by large numbers.
All the participants submitted concrete proposals that will have to be implemented and followed up to enhance the sense of belonging and to foster the teamwork required to achieve a “critical mass” and to become influential on sport matters on the international arena.
Next 7 May will be the opening day of the exhibition of the 30 photos selected by an international judging panel and by Panathlon Clubs from all over the world among all the entries in the PHOTO CONTEST 2022 “An Invincible Summer”. This contest was launched by Panathlon International and by its Cultural Foundation Domenico Chiesa and was targeted to young photographers aged 18-25. The exhibition will be hosted at the seat of Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), Viale Antonio Allegri, 9 - Palazzo Dossetti, in Reggio Emilia. The photos can be seen and downloaded from the website: https://www.panathlon-international.org/.../Presentazione...
The three winners of the contest will receive their awards on the same day. Taking the podium, with no merit ranking, will be: Stefano Baggio (Vercelli - ITA) with the photo "Lealtà e rispetto", Patrick Trazzi (Trento - ITA) with the photo "Toccando il cielo con un dito" and Camilla Depaulis (Novara - ITA) with the photo "Cavalca il Sogno".
The three winners of the contest and the winners of the “People’s Choice Award” and the “Panathlon Club’s Choice Award” will be announced during the award ceremony of Circuito OFF of FOTOGRAFIA EUROPEA, according to the program outlined below.
“From the early afternoon, several events, performances and workshops will start at via dei due Gobbi, seat of a historic residence of artists (…), and will continue until 18.30, when the winner of Circuito OFF will be presented his/her award at Chiostri di San Pietro. The night will continue with a “tortellata” (handmade tortelli stuffed with herbs) open to all at Pause, the cafeteria within the Cloister premises; all proceeds will be donated to charity for the benefit of Ukraine”.
Therefore, the PHOTO CONTEST 2022 awards will be presented, in the framework of the award ceremony of Circuito OFF, starting at 18.30 at Chiostri di San Pietro.
After 3 years of online editions due to pandemic, on 27 April at the University of Antwerp "Aula Dhanis Rector " took place the opening ceremony of the 23 PCU Games 2022.
Panathlon International was represented by the International Board Member Patrick Van Campenhout who officially opened the Games.
President Lorenzo D’Ilario as a guest and speaker of the conference "Preventing bullying through Sport"
On Friday, April 22, the Panathlon Club Junior Rome, in the person of President Lorenzo D’Ilario as a guest and speaker, was invited at the Auditorium "Vittorio De Sica" in Sora (Frosinone) to join the conference “Preventing bullying through Sport”, an interesting public debate between sports associations, clubs and institutions of the Lazio area on a very topical issue
The competition for short films gets into full swing. Panathlon clubs and all panathletes are called to promote the participation through their social channels and personal relationships. This activity of the Cultural Foundation Panathlon International - Domenico Chiesa has become an integral part of the programme of the International Federation of Sports Cinema and Television, which has included it in the programme of the "WORLD FICTS CHALLENGE".
After a thorough examination of how to preserve the Olympic Values that have withstood the test of time and now find themselves so widely scarred, he addresses with a heavy heart the questions and choices facing the Olympic Movement today.
On 16th May 2022 will be celebrated the 5th edition of the International Day of Living Together in Peace, event to which Panathlon International has given its adhesion as partner.
This day is a way to mobilize the efforts of the international community in favour of peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity, and an opportunity for everyone to express the deep desire to live and act together to build a sustainable world based on peace.
To celebrate this day, a very large group of people around the world will have the opportunity to see the documentary film "All of Us", which shows, in the spirit of hope, how stories of people with different beliefs can live together in harmony.
These increasingly relevant values are deeply rooted in the culture of healthy sport and in the mission of Panathlon International.
We will be promoting the event weekly, stay connected!
Panathlon International joins the expressions of condemnation of the aggression of Russia against Ukraine. The values of sport are a fundamental part of the life of citizens and for their expression require freedom and democracy.
The aggressors' design to reduce a people in conditions of political subjection, implies a serious mortification also of the expression of any sport practice that recalls, in its essence, the prevalence of the free choice and of the spontaneous exercise for the psychophysical, ethical and moral construction of a civil conscience.
With this premise, Panathlon International, on the basis of the concrete relationship of institutional cooperation, joins the position of the International Olympic Committee in condemning the aggression, declaring itself "deeply worried about the violation of the Olympic truce" started on 4th February and destined to last until one week after the Paralympic Games.
President Thomas Bach set up a task force to monitor closely the situation and to coordinate humanitarian assistance to members of the Olympic community in Ukraine.
Panathlon International, in reiterating with determination and conviction this line of condemnation, which also excludes Russian sport from any participation in international events, expresses its solidarity with all Russian athletes who demonstrate that they do not share the aggression and who are excluded from participating in sporting events that are a fundamental part of their lives. They too, like the Ukrainians, are victims of a terrible act that is totally detrimental to fundamental human values.
In the month of February two meetings of the International Board were held online to discuss various topics that needed to be addressed promptly.
The date of the next Ordinary General Assembly and Extraordinary Assembly will take place in Lausanne on June 11.
The International Congress will presumably take place in October (date yet to be defined) together with the "Flambeau d'Or” Award Ceremony - to the memory of Antonio Spallino".
The Strategic Plan 2022-2026, elaborated by IB Member Luis Moreno, was discussed and will be integrated with the more than 800 answers to the questionnaires sent by the General Secretariat and presented to the Assembly.
Finally, the statutory changes that the International Board will present to the General Assembly in Lausanne were defined.
The General Secretariat has received from over 20% of the clubs (65) other requests for amendments to the Statute.
These requests will now be translated and sent to PI Constitution and Arbitration Board for its opinion and will be sent to all Clubs, 60 days before the Assembly.
The next appointment with the International Board is scheduled for next April 28, always online.
An Advisory Board webinar on Physical Education (PE) and school sports: a creative approach to human rights and democracy will take place online. On Monday 21 February 2022 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (CEST).
This webinar will bring together experts in the field of sport, human rights, physical education and school sports.
Secretary General Simona Callo will participate.