GWANGJU – Today, March 17th, the 2014 FISU Forum in Gwangju, organized by the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee, was officially opened.
The opening ceremony for the 2014 FISU Forum Gwangju took place in the multi-purpose hall of the Kimdaejung Convention Centre and was attended by Kang Un-tae, Chairman of GUOC and Mayor of Gwangju City, Oleg Matytsin, FISU First Vice-President, Stefan Bergh, FISU Vice President, Luciano Cabral, FISU Vice President, Leonz Eder, FISU Vice President, Alison Odell, FISU First Assessor, Eric Saintrond, FISU SG/CEO, other members of the FISU EC as well as more than 300 participants of the forum.
Oleg Matytsin, FISU First Vice President
The ceremony started with the Korean anthem, the FISU anthem (Gaudeamus Igitur) and the presentation of the flag of the 68 participant countries followed by welcome speeches of Un-tae Kang, Mayor of Gwangju City and Alison Odell, Chair of the FISU Education Committee.
Then the Honorary President of the Korean University Sports Board, Chong-Yang Kim, took the floor to welcome the participants and finally Oleg Matytsin, FISU First Vice-President, had the honour to declare the Forum open, in the name of the FISU President Claude Louis Gallien.
Chong-Yang Kim, Honorary President of the Korean University Sports Board and Oleg Matytsin, FISU First Vice President
Alison Odell introduced the FISU roadmap and the theme and sub-themes of the Forum. The floor was afterwards given to Jeno Kamuti who briefly introduced the Fair Play Committee.
At the same time, Alf Lazer (AUS), Emeritus Honorary Member of FISU, was honoured by the International Fair Play Committee and was given a Diploma of Honour by Jeno Kamuti, President of the International Fair Play Committee.
After the Opening Ceremony, a press conference gathering Oleg Matytsin, Alison Odell, Eric Saintrond, Un-tae Kang and some officials of the OC of Gwangju 2014 was organized in order to answer the questions of the journalists.
It was then the time of the official picture of the Forum
In the afternoon, some cultural activities were organized for the participants (initiation to traditional Korean cooking and traditional Korean art). The evening ended up with the Official Banquet of the Forum during which some countries realized some traditional performances in front of a delighted audience.
David Vandenplas, Media Assistant