The European Olympic Committees has called on the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) to extend membership to the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of Israel and Palestine in line with the Olympic Charter.
Currently, the Mediterranean Games and Mediterranean Beach Games are the only sporting events in which the participation of athletes from Israel and Palestine is prohibited. They compete in the Olympic Games and the world championships of all International Federations.
Following a letter sent requesting the topic to be added to the GA agenda in July, President Capralos called on the ICMG to end the longstanding issue, bring the ICMG in line with the Olympic Charter, which is mentioned in the ICMG Charter, and award membership of the ICMG to the NOCs of Israel and Palestine.
President Capralos said: “During my introductory comments, I mentioned some of the Olympic ideals and principles. I want to focus on two of them: solidarity and unity.
“Our world is changing and we need to adapt to the changing world, but always stick to our principles. That one that is guiding us is the Olympic Charter and we should follow the Olympic Charter.
“The letter the EOC sent to ICMG is nothing else but just to express the desire of our members in Europe to end a longstanding issue and bring to our next Mediterranean family two of our NOCs – the NOC of Israel and the NOC of Palestine. I think the time has come to open this discussion.
“We think that we should follow the Olympic Charter with no discrimination and to follow the desire of the IOC and what has happened to all the major sports events in the world – The Olympic Games, World Championships, team events at national level and club level, where there is no such discrimination.
“We need to work together to prepare and always having in mind that we need to keep the unity and to try to find ways to resolve this delicate issue.”
It was agreed that an ICMG Extraordinary General Assembly will be held in order to take a decision about this issue.
There are currently 26 members of the ICMG from three continents with the third Mediterranean Beach Games taking place between 9 and 16 September in Crete.
