LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Moving its headquarters to the Olympic capital of Lausanne means not only more collaborations with international federations, but a new start to concentrate on education through sports, International School Sports Federation president Laurent Petrynka said here on Thursday.
"There are many reasons why we arrive in Lausanne. We are working with more than 34 federations. So being here in Lausanne means working in a better condition for all this collaboration," Petrynka said.
Petrynka said younger generations are going through a difficult time and facing a more complicated world, which is urging the ISF to help the youth through sports.
"The young generation are facing obesity, violence, digital addiction, bullying, diplomatic harassment. It's a very complicated world with about 60 countries [at] war. So it's something that is completely impacting the young generation. We consider [that] sport is a solution to all these points," the president said.
The 2024 ISF Gymnasiade will be staged in Bahrain in October with 25 sports. The official ISF Bahrain Gymnasiade 2024 website says the competition "is not just an event; it's a platform for dreams to take flight, for aspiring athletes to push their limits, and for nations to unite in the name of sports."
"We are missing something now. We are missing the educational part of the event," Petrynka said. "The event is a small part of the world. Even you have the biggest event like 10,000 [people], it's still small. So it means that we have to build the legacy, diplomacy, awareness and advocacy about the values of ISF - education through sports."
ISF launched the ISF Academy a year ago in February 2023 before the Winter Gymnasiade in Erzurum, Turkey. Online activities and seminars are open to students worldwide before every ISF event.
China is one of the ISF member associations that responded to the call, promising to build 50,000 schools for 50 million students with football in the curriculum. Macao will host the ISF Basketball World Championships and Dalian will stage the ISF Football World Cup this summer.
"The Chinese school sports federation is an historical member of ISF, a very strong member. With the leadership of China, we are very happy about the collaboration," Petrynka added.
A delegation from China's Ministry of Education met with ISF leadership on Thursday in Lausanne, discussing the preparation of the two ISF events this summer, and more collaboration in the future.
The Chinese delegation promised successful events in China and also responded positively to the proposal of ISF to set up a branch office in China for more future cooperation.
"We have the same analysis with [International Olympic Committee] president [Thomas] Bach about the problem of the young generation today. There are member National Olympic Committees [that] must be helped to talk better to [schools]. We are here to help for that. We are transforming the data. It means that if you use the school sport federation, inside the country, to make the link between the sport movement and the Ministry of Education, this is my job," Petrynka said.
To conclude, the president said, "The movement to Lausanne is not only technique, it's a political movement. We are here. If we can't, who can come to the young generation?" ■
