LAUSANNE, November 7, 2022 – The 84th AIPS Congress in Rome proved to be a much-needed happy reunion, amid intense debates and discussions. This much-anticipated event forms the core of the latest edition of the AIPS Magazine which is now online and available for download. https://www.aipsmedia.com/healthsystem_project/aips/pages/magazine/AIPS032022/index.html#p=1
Two years and seven months after Budapest 2020 – a period punctuated by lockdowns across the globe – delegations representing 105 national associations as well as guests from all around the world converged on the Eternal City, the historical capital of Italy, from October 3-6, 2022 to usher in a new era for the association.
GIANNI MERLO RE-ELECTED AIPS President Gianni Merlo was re-elected by acclamation on the final day of the Congress. This news is on page 34. October 5 was also a historic day that saw the election of two female Vice-Presidents for the first time. Following the elections into various executive positions, Congress engaged in important discussions regarding the revision of the statutes, the AIPS Sport Media Awards, AIPS Young Reporters Programme, the Seoul 2023 Congress, and the centenary celebration of AIPS in Paris, in 2024. Earlier on Day Two of the Congress, three out of the four AIPS continental sections went to the polls. Hee Don Jung, Carlos Julio Castellanos, and Charles Camenzuli were elected presidents of AIPS Asia, AIPS America, and AIPS Europe respectively.
PRESS FREEDOM In his editorial titled “Ninety-eight years and counting, the fight to defend our rights continue and we must be united”, AIPS President Merlo highlighted the importance of unity in the fight for press freedom after drawing attention to the fact that some federations and sports clubs are closing all our access to the sources while some governments are arresting journalists. “Our unity will help us to be even stronger when we find ourselves defending the rights of our colleagues, who are imprisoned or enabled to leave their country so as not to be persecuted,” he wrote on page 9. The cases of two imprisoned Iranian AIPS Members are reported on page 29 and AIPS is demanding their immediate release from jail in Iran
AIPS MEETS ALEKSANDER ČEFERIN The TH Roma – Carpegna Palace Hotel opened its doors to over 250 participants including UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, who was the first guest to take the stage on the opening day of the Congress. For 40 minutes, he had an open conversation with AIPS president Gianni Merlo and then answered questions from some of the attendees. Čeferin spoke about the current state of European football, including Financial Fair Play and calendars, the continuous challenges of his office in the two and a half years of Covid, and the failed Super League, which has made European football more united than ever. He confirmed he will run for office again stating that he has 55 letters of support out of 55 members. Read about this on page 30.
THE STORY OF A YOUNG REPORTER-TURNED-SOLDIER On the same opening day, Vito Cozzoli, President of Sport and Salute S.p.A and ARISF President Raffaele Chiulli also spoke about their respective organizations before Ukrainian young reporter-turned-soldier Vladyslav Dunaienko, who needed a special permit to leave his country shared his emotional and poignant war story that began with the Russian invasion of his country in February 2022. Italian AIPS Mentor Riccardo Romani, who himself was at some point in Ukraine to cover the war, moderated this heart-tugging session. This is on page 38.
PANELS AND PRESENTATIONS Day Two the Congress was packed with panel discussions on the future of sports journalism in the era of robots as well as gender inequality in the sports media and presentations by IOC, FIFA, UEFA, Special Olympics, and Chungcheong Megacity 2027 Bid Committee. Pioneer AIPS Young Reporter Ritah Aliguma shared how her Aliguma Foundation is using sports to transform the lives of kids in the slums of Uganda. And then President of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and Milano-Cortina 2026 Foundation, Giovanni Malagò, gave a brief speech. Everyone departed for a guided tour of the Olympic Forum and dinner at the Olympic Stadium afterward.
OREGON 2022 The World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022 offered two enthusiastic young reporters an opportunity of a lifetime in the USA. Alla Vaskovska from Ukraine and Robert Witt from Germany shared their experiences covering a major event of this magnitude for the first time in their lives from page 56.
Many more stories can be found inside the AIPS Magazine thanks to contributions from our National Associations, Delegates, and Continental Sections.
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