A delegation of the IOC and the Hellenic Olympic Committee, headed by IOC member Mario Pescante, HOC President Spyros Capralos and the Olympic medalists in sailing in Rio 2016, Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis, is visiting Lesbos on Sunday October 1st.

A sports event will be led on Sunday morning at the port of Mytilene with a demonstration of sailing and with the participation of the sailing clubs of Lesbos and Olympic medalists Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis.

The delegation of the IOC and the HOC will visit the island’s open refugee camp of Kara Tepe, and will share out sports equipment to the children.

A visit at the stadium and a meeting with the President of the Moria village and the members of the cultural center will follow.

Early in summer 2016, upon an invitation by the Hellenic Olympic Committee’s President, the International Olympic Committee together with the municipality of Lesbos had financed the reconstruction of the Moria stadium in the island.

The stadium is used today for the training of the local teams of Lesvos and for the sports programmes for the refugees.

“From the first moment, when the refugee crisis broke out, the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach took initiatives as the Olympic movement fully understands the significance of the role of sport in the relieving the refugee crisis – said the HOC President, Spyros Capralos, on the occasion of a visit to Lesbos.

“During the IOC Session in Lima, Peru, the IOC President announced the launch of the Olympic Refugee Foundation, which will cooperate with the UN, and will aim at creating sports structures and programmes in areas where there is a refugee population – Capralos recently informed.

He added:”We are pleased that the IOC is represented in Lesbos by its former Vice-President, Mario Pescante, who today has the important role of IOC’s permanent observer at the United Nations. We are very lucky, because Mr. Pescante being Italian, is well aware of the refugee crisis, as Italy and Greece are being particularly affected.

“In cooperation with the Municipality of Lesbos and the Mayor Spyros Galinos, we will discuss the possibility for Greece and Italy to develop programmes with the participation of the IOC and the newly Olympic Refugee Foundation, which will contribute to the relief of the impact of the crisis on both refugees and local communities.”