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FIDE Honorary President honoured by GAISF |
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Friday, 06 June 2008 09:28 |
FIDE Honorary President honoured by GAISF
At the 42nd GAISF General Assembly in Athens on June 6th 2008, Florencio Campomanes, FIDE Honorary President, was presented with the GAISF ‘Spirit of Sport’ award.
The General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) membership comprises all the Olympic Sports Federations, all IOC recognised and some non-recognised sports federations plus some major sports organisations. All members of GAISF can make nominations. The Award Commission of GAISF reviews all the nominations and announces the successful nominees at the Annual Congress. Juan Antonio Samaranch, Borislav Stankovic and H.S.H. Prince Rainier III of Monaco are among the 14 previous winners of the award.
The Award was created to recognize and honour those individuals who have contributed to the development of their sport.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Campomanes paid tribute to all those colleagues in FIDE who equally deserved the award. He thanked GAISF profusely and hoped that FIDE could contribute to the organisation’s pursuit of its goals.
In the FIDE submission, Mr Campomanes contribution to the growth of FIDE membership in Asia, Africa and Latin America during his four terms as President plus the creation of the CACDEC fund for federations in need of financial and technical aid was highlighted. Chess in Schools was another project that was given impetus during his time in office and the IOC recognized FIDE as an International federation.
Growth in participation in the Chess Olympiads was also substantial under his leadership. From 82 federations in the Open and 42 teams in the Women’s event in Malta in 1980, the numbers grew to 114 and 74 respectively by the end of his Presidency.
Of course, Mr Campomanes has contributed to the development in Asian chess prior to his election as President of FIDE. He was delegate for the Philippines from 1956, Asian Zonal President from 1960-1964 and Deputy President for Asia from 1974-1982. He organised many top events in the Philippines, including, Manila Olympiad in 1992, World Championship in 1978, Interzonals in 1976 and 1989, World Juniors in 1974 and 1987 and the Women’s World championship in 1992.
Many people playing chess today owe their introduction to the sport to his work over five decades. The ‘Spirit of Sport’ award is a fitting recognition of this work.
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