72nd CISM Congress and General Assembly in Athens, Greece – Day 5
ATHENS (GRE) – Today, the CISM President, the CISM Board of Directors members, the CISM Secretary General and all the Member Nations in attendance gathered for the last day of the 72nd CISM Congress and General Assembly that took place from 2 to 6 May 2017 in Athens.
The morning session was dedicated to the last part of the Congress and the Lieutenant-Colonel Khalid Al Jabri, Chief of Delegation of Oman to CISM, first took the floor to present the Final Report of the 2nd CISM World Football Cup, one of the CISM 2017 major event, that took place from 13 to 29 January in the City of Muscat, the Capital of the Sultanate of Oman.
It was then the turn of Colonel Oleg Botsman, Head of Delegation of Russia to CISM, to present the Final Report of the 3rd CISM World Winter Games that were successfully held in Sochi from February 22 to February 28.
The Indonesian Delegation, represented by General Sodik, brought the 3rd CISM World Cadet Games Indonesia 2019 forward. Those Games will take place next year from 28 April to 6 May and will feature seven different sports: Military Pentathlon, Orienteering, Track & Field, Shooting, Volleyball, Swimming and Badminton.
The Mayor of Wuhan City, Mr. Wan Yong, that will host the 7th CISM World Summer Games in Wuhan in 2019 introduced to the delegates its Progress Report and gave an overview of the organization of the major event of the CISM 2019 Sports Calendar.
The Floor was finally given to Brigadier-General Kurdzyc and Lieutenant-Colonel Harald Dobmeier, Head of the Organizing Committee of the 4th World Winter Games that Germany will host in 2021, for a presentation of the Games. Brigadier-General Kurdzyc and Brigadier-General Kurdzyc took the opportunity to sign the Official Agreement of Organization.
The part related to the CISM Academy & CISM Sports Science was then addressed by Professor Heiki Kyrolainen, who introduced the CISM Academy Report 2016-2017 and a presentation of the 4th International Congress on Soldiers’ Physical Performance (ICSPP) that will be held from 28 November to 1 December 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
Brigadier Rashid Mahboob Al-Dosari, Delegate of the Qatari Delegation, presented the Report of the WMC Shooting 2016 that took place in Doha in November 2016.
The Congress ended with the presentation of the CISM Marketing Agency by Mr. Son Heekul and his staff. They also presented to the audience the new CISM Master Program that will be launched in 2018 in collaboration with the Jungwon University.
The General Assembly started in the afternoon with the welcome address of the CISM President Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino and the presentation of all the new members and officials.
The delegates were then asked to vote the decision files and the application of the Comoros as a new CISM Member Nation presented.
The Comoros were accepted as a new Member Nation of CISM by the General Assembly. CISM now counts 136 Member Nations.
Then, the Dominican Republic Delegation gave an overview of the 73rd CISM Congress & General Assembly that will take place in Dominican Republic in 2018. The new CISM BoD Members were also honored by the President and the audience: Colonel David KABRÉ (BUR) was elected as Vice-President Africa, Brigadier M K ONG’OYI (KEN) and Commodore Mounir ABICHOU (TUN) were elected as BoD Members, Lieutenant-Colonel Fahad Al-Shehhi (UAE) was elected as BoD Member, Colonel Jose Carlos GARCIA-VERDUGO SANCHEZ (ESP) and Lieutenant-Colonel Walter BORGHINO (ITA) were elected as BoD Members.
The CISM President had the honor to close the General Assembly meeting with his general conclusions.
During the Closing Ceremony, the CISM President Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino also awarded the CISM Order of Merit Medals to the following persons who rendered exceptional service to the cause of CISM: Lieutenant Shaikh Rashid Abdulaziz Al Saud (UAE) - Knight; Lieutenant-General Konstantinos Floros (GRE) – Grand Officer; Brigadier-General Gerhard Herke (AUT) – Grand Officer; Lieutenant-Colonel Wim de Geyter (BEL) – Officer; Navy Captain Spyridon Andriopoulos (GRE) – Grand Knight; Major Jon Kirknes (NOR) – Grand Knight; Mrs. Despina Kalogianni (GRE) – Knight; Commander Michas Athanasios (GRE) – Knight. The CISM President also congratulated the Lieutenant-General Konstantinos Floros, representative of Admiral Evangelos Apostalakis, and rendered a special homage to the Greek Delegation for the organization of this 72nd General Assembly and Congress.
CISM President also welcomed the Chief of Delegation of the new CISM Member, Comoros!
The Closing Ceremony started with the lowering of the CISM flag while the CISM anthem was played. The CISM Flag was handed over to the next General Assembly & Congress host country, Dominican Republic.
The Greek National Flag was then lowered with the Greek National Anthem.
The CISM President took the floor to make his Closing Speech and was followed by Lieutenant-General Konstantinos Floros, who officially declared the 42nd CISM Congress and General Assembly closed.
In the evening, just after the traditional Gift Exchange, all the delegates attended the Closing Banquet offered by the Greek Delegation to CISM.
Tomorrow, the participants will be invited to a One Day Cruise to the three following islands: Aegian, Poros and Hydra. The departures of the delegates are foreseen for Monday 8 May.
Thank you Greece and see you next year in Dominican Republic for the 73rd Edition of the CISM Congress and General Assembly Estonia!
Source: David Vandenplas (CISM Media and Communication Director)
Pictures: Maxime Morlet (CISM Media and Communication Assistant) & Ioannis Dondoros
