TRACK AND FIELD CELEBRATION-EVENT
IN NEAPOLIS
(February, 2012)

The Cretan Track & Field Celebration-Events took place recently in Neapolis. The events were organised by the Cretan Union of Athletic Associations of the Greek Federation of Classic Sports with the co-operation of the Aghios Nikolaos municipality, the municipality’s Cultural Athletic Organization, the Neapolis Municipal Community, the Lasithi Athletic Group and many other institutions and associations in Neapolis.

The athletic activities were carried out in the central square of Neapolis while a crowd of spectators watched and cheered on the athletes, particularly the very young athletes who gave the spectators unique moments in athletic competition.
The program included the following events:

1. Kids Athletics: More than 300 children participated from athletic associations and municipal schools, ages nine to 13. The young athletes competed with particular enthusiasm and joy proving the necessity of such programs in all the cities and all participants were deemed winners.

2. PanCretan Running Championship on a Public Road: Running events took place, 1,000 to 5,000 meters, in 14 age-related categories. A total of 155 athletes participated – athletes from local associations who are preparing for the Pan-Hellenic street running championship on irregular ground as well as many independent athletes.

3. Award presentation for the best athletes-trainers for 2011, judges and other track & field personalities in Crete:  The Federation gave awards to 80 athletes all together who distinguished in 2011 as well as granting three honorary awards.

MPs, members of local government, members of the fire department, members of the Lasithi and Neapolis police as well as representatives of local institutions and associations joined with hundreds of locals to enjoy the festivities.

At the awards ceremony the Mayor of Aghios Nikolaos, Mr. Dimitris Kounenakis, spoke about the need to complete the Neapolis stadium, pointing out that “the support of the Federation is sorely needed.”

Vice mayor, Mr. Michalis Maris added his hope that “this event become an annual institution to be carried out in Neapolis.”

THE OLYMPIC FLAME
KINDLED ON MAY TENTH
(February, 2012)

The flame for the 2012 Olympic Games will be kindled in Olympia on 10 May. The flame will be lit from the sun's rays in an hour-long morning ceremony at the Temple of Hera. Then it will be taken on an eight-day relay around Greece. The flame will be handed over to the organisers in the Panathinaiko Stadium, Athens, on 17 May in an hour-long evening ceremony.

The flame for the London 2012 Torch Relay will arrive on 18 May in the UK at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall.

It will then travel from the base to Land's End on the morning of 19 May where the UK relay will begin for an 8,000 mile journey ending in Stratford on 27 July. The 70-day torch relay will travel to 1,019 places, carried by 8,000 torchbearers.

On the last day it is due to travel down the River Thames to the Olympic Park for the opening ceremony of the Games. The flame will burn until the closing ceremonies on 12 August.

THE SOUNDS OF GREECE
AT 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
(February, 2012)

The Greek Bouzouki School of Yiannis Polykandriotis in the UK will represent Greece and its traditional music in the artistic programme of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The fifty-member orchestra is made up of male and female bouzouki players, aged between10 and 32, has a strong presence in the British capital, and was chosen after a relevant competition amidst several Greek bands.

The orchestra will perform at 15 cultural and athletic events, including the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Yiannis Polykandriotis has been employed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cyprus in order to teach the bouzouki and traditional Greek music to the students of the Greek and Greek-Cypriot communities in the UK.

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT
IN SITIA

November, 2011

The sixth annual International Wheelchair Tennis Tournament took place in Sitia (18 to 23 October). This year's event was marked with exceptional success not only for the number of attendances but also for the high professional level of its matches.

It is a very important and a unique athletic event, as it is the only one of its kind that is organised in the country. This year 34 athletes participated - for the first time women also participated - from various countries around the world like Germany, Turkey, N. Africa, Italy and of course Greece, as well as many other countries.

MEDITERRANEAN GRECO-ROMAN CHAMPIONSHIP
GAMES IN LARISSA IN 2012

November, 2011

The region of Thessalia is organizing the 3rd Mediterranean Championship Greco-Roman free style championship games for men and women to be held in May 2012 in Larissa.

 “It will be a high level organisation with a multitude of positives for the region,” said Kostas Agorastos, the prefect of Thessalia. “The games will strengthen the tourist projection of Thessalia while both the athletes and the visitors will have the chance to tour around Meteora, Pilion, Lake Plastira and Mt Olympus, and it will be excellent publicity not only for the region’s natural beauty but of its exceptional products as well. “

Organizing the Mediterranean Greco-Roman Championship Games is one of the newest and more important events of the International Fight Federation (FILA) with 400 athletes participating from the following 23 Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Greece.

“These games will be organised in a favourable time slot, as they are taking place in the beginning of the 2012 tourist period and three months before the Olympic Games in London,” Mr. Agorastos said. “This will probably be the last chance for the athletes to test-out their power and talents which usually means participation of high-calibre athletes.  In addition, we are hoping that the games will draw visiting spectators from countries other than Mediterranean, to monitor the competition, many of whom could extend their stay in Thessalia to include a vacation.”

VIOLENCE, DRUGS, BRIBERY
IS TODAY'S SPORTING LIFE
(September, 2011)

The government’s commitment to combat the causes creating the horrors of the sports world, like the doping phenomenon, fixed games and especially violence, is outlined in a new four-part law currently under discussion.

Some of the main points of the bill are:

·         To confront violence inside and outside sports facilities, the government is restructuring the Long-Standing Committee on Handling of Violence which works within the General Secretariat of Sports. The Committee will be upgraded to an official arm of the State able to recommend the appropriate policies to confront violence, while still maintaining its representative character.

·         The current provisions to tackle violence become stricter by treating any organized unlawful activity in sporting events and sports arenas as criminal acts punishable by law.

·         Rules regarding the operation of fan clubs will be much stricter and an Official Body will be appointed to check, prevent and punish any illegal activities committed by fan club members.

·         In strengthening the policy to confront doping, the National Council Combating Doping becomes a legal entity. There will also be provisions for stricter penalties in the punishment of doping.

·         The National Council of Sports Planning will be upgraded and reorganized. The Council will serve as an advisory body to the Government's policy in sports and will provide stiffer penalties for perpetrators of fixed games.

CULTURE/TOURISM MINISTER
ON GREEK FOOTBALL
(September, 2011)

Mr. Pavlos Geroulanos minister of culture and tourism states that: “while the Union of European Football Associations shows a determination to fight ‘fixed’ games, the Greek Sports Justice softens ποινές.the penalties. Η Πολιτεία σέβεται τις αποφάσεις της αθλητικής δικαιοσύνης, αλλά είναι αποφασισμένη να συνεχίσει μέχρι τέλους την προσπάθεια εξυγίανσης του ελληνικού ποδοσφαίρου.The State respects the decisions of the sports justice, but is determined to follow through on the recovery effort of a “clean bill of health” for Greek football.”

“Για το σκοπό αυτό αξιολογούμε συνεχώς την αξιοπιστία των συνομιλητών μας και χρησιμοποιούμε όλα τα εργαλεία που έχουμε στη διάθεσή μας: κρατικά χρήματα, κρατικά στάδια, κρατική τηλεόραση.For this purpose, we continuously evaluate the reliability of those we are in dialogue with and we use all of the tools at our disposal: state money, state stadiums, and state television. Τις αποφάσεις μας θα τις ανακοινώσουμε συνολικά και συντεταγμένα». In good time we will announce our final decisions."

SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHLETES
VISIT CRETAQUARIUM

Prior to their participation in the Special Olympics being held in Athens through July 4, athletes from Cyprus, Mexico, Aruba, Estonia and the Isle of Man were treated to visits in many attractions throughout the country.  On Crete, they received a close-up view of Mediterranean marine life during a visit to the Cretaquarium in Gournes.

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