President's Note N° 12 2018

Dear members of the Gymnastics family!  

In late October and early November, Doha (QAT) opened its doors to the gymnasts competing in the 48^th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The warmth was not limited to the outside weather but was felt inside the official hotels, the competition and training venues thanks to the efforts of hospitable organisers. The world’s gymnastics community was impressed by the level which the athletes eagerly demonstrated in their routines.

The events in Artistic Gymnastics -considered to be the most popular gymnastics discipline across the world- attracted the top officials of the FIG and its affiliated Federations to Doha. It was very pleasant and interesting to meet them and share our impressions.

At the Round Table, in which the FIG President participated, interesting opinions of the National Federations’ were sounded and discussed. Round tables of this kind play a great role in the exchange of views between the Federations’ representatives.

Moreover, it was a good opportunity for the UEG to have a meeting with its affiliated Federations. Representatives of more than 20 European countries joined. We discussed the main topics also included into the Agenda of the Congress.

Following the Worlds in Doha, the eyes of gymnastics fans focused on the Northern capital of Russia – Saint Petersburg –host of the 33^rd FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships. Good conditions were offered by the Local Organising Committee. The performances of high-level athletes made the events incredibly interesting for the whole gymnastics community.

Afterwards, I took part in the 47^th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees in Marbella (ESP) on invitation of EOC President Janez Kocijančič on November 9 & 10. The valuable thoughts on protection of the European Sport Model were pronounced by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach in his welcome address. It was very interesting to hear a progress report on the European Games Minsk 2019 and the 2019 Baku Summer European Youth Olympic Festival as well as to take part in the discussions on the European Sport Model and gender equality. I also had a good opportunity to meet with the authorities of the European Olympic Committees and European Sport Federations within the framework of the Assembly.

Then, I joined FIG World Cup in Acrobatic Gymnastics held in my home city of Baku. I met with the representatives of the Acrobatic Gymnastics family prior to the FIG Congress which was also organised in Baku on December 2 & 3.

The Congress meeting was preceded by the FIG Presidential Commission and Executive Committee meetings on November 30 & December 1. It was the first Congress for the FIG President Mr. Morinari Watanabe elected in 2016 and the Congress went down in gymnastics history with important decisions taken for the international Gymnastics Community, including the creation of an independent “Gymnastics Ethics Foundation” comprised of three sections: safeguarding, disciplinary and compliance. Changes to the Statutes were made related to Parkour, gender equality etc. It also marked the retirement of Secretary General Andre Gueisbuhler and taking up of the post by his successor Deputy Secretary General Nicolas Buompane from 1^st January 2019. With the admission of 3 new Federations, the number of FIG affiliated Federations reached 148, of which 1/3 are European.

In fact, the decisions taken within the two-day Congress are considered to be very significant for the future of gymnastics. Therefore, we organised several meetings with the UEG affiliated Federations first starting from the European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Glasgow (GBR) and finalizing it on the first day of the Congress. We deliberately discussed the issues included in the Agenda of the Congress for the purpose of clarification of all the advantages and disadvantages of the innovations introduced.

The Congress which gathered the whole Gymnastics family in Baku was also saturated with many other meetings like the FIG Technical Meeting, Women in Gymnastics Commission as well as FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committees meeting. Specialists in Parkour willingly participated in the Parkour Introductory Course. The countries included in the African Gymnastics Union held its Ordinary General Assembly. And we did not miss the opportunity to have our regular Presidential Board meeting.

When you see the whole gymnastics family under the FIG umbrella altogether, you understand the magnitude of the work carried out by the continents separately. But all of us have one common goal – further development and progress of all gymnastics disciplines.