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It is with great pleasure and an honour for me to participate in tonight's first National Sports Awards ceremony organised by the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO).
Before anything else, allow me to thank in particular the President, who had a successful career as President of the COA, and the members of the COA Board of Directors - and through them all those who have served the COA over the years, which this year completes 55 years of service - for your action that contributed to the implementation of all those policies that upgraded Cypriot sport and were instrumental in making leaps towards progress and development.
It is in this context that tonight's event takes place. The establishment of the National Sports Awards aims precisely to recognise and pay tribute to people, institutions and organisations that have contributed with their contribution to the upgrading of sport in our country and to promote the spirit of social solidarity and contribution through sporting activity. Because sport is not only sports: it is also the social dimension of sport, it is also the field of education.
As one can easily see from the number of candidates proposed by the Special Committee in the various award categories, as Cyprus, yes, we can be proud of the level of our sport but also of the people who are the main exponents of all those values that the sporting ideal stands for.
We therefore feel great pride and honour our athletes, the personalities who, through their demanding effort and their enormous sacrifices, successfully represent our country in international sporting events, being a model of ethics, behaviour and action for all of us. We also honour their coaches, their families and loved ones, as well as all the sporting agents and stakeholders who contributed in their own special way to their successes. The joint effort of all, culminating in the participation and successes of our athletes, proves to be decisive for the continuation of the evolutionary course of Cypriot sport.
It is precisely this evolutionary course that we aim to strengthen through our own specific actions and policies outlined in our Governance Programme. At the heart of our policies is the substantial strengthening, in all possible ways, of the effort of our athletes, always taking into account, of course, the suggestions and aspirations of our sporting world so that through a joint effort to achieve our goals. And it is particularly important that our athletes have a place, a role and a voice in the decisions that affect them and influence them.
In addition to what I mentioned above for professionals in the field, our general plans in the field of sport are also aimed at improving the physical and mental health of all citizens without any discrimination. At the same time, they aim to promote sport as an educational institution and as a tool for a healthy lifestyle, enhancing the opportunities for sporting activities inside and outside our schools.
And this is where I come to the field of education, the field of education. Towards the realization of all that we envision for Sport, we are promoting, among many other things, the creation of programmes for the development of athletes - role models and the promotion of new talents, the implementation of actions to promote lifelong exercise, the development of mass sport programmes and the integration of Olympic Education into the curricula of our schools.
It is very important for our efforts to be successful that we place special emphasis on Education and our schools.
It is very important for our efforts to be crowned with success that we place special emphasis on Education and our schools. At the same time, we are promoting actions that will contribute to providing equal opportunities for sport for all and to the inclusion of people with disabilities in sport. This is a bet we have as a government.
In this context of need - that is, to start from education to achieve the goal of further upgrading sport in our country, a goal that cannot be achieved from one year to the next - I would like to announce tonight our decision to develop, under the supervision and oversight of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth and of course with the assistance of the new Board of the COA, a strategy for the upgrading of sport in our country.
This strategy will include actions concerning pre-school, school and higher education as well as the adult life of our fellow citizens. More and more specific details will be announced soon by the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth herself.
Another issue that is of serious concern to me and I also see from time to time some completely justified reactions is the issue of sports venues. I must mention that the outgoing Board did a significant amount of work in this area.
Realizing the great importance of the quality and adequacy of sports facilities, we will work towards promoting their further upgrading and utilization, building on the work done to strengthen the championship, assisting the effort for mass sports, attracting international events - and in this direction we have started work in Limassol on the occasion of the organisation of the Eurobasket - the promotion of sports tourism and their more effective and efficient utilisation by the organised groups in our country. It is an issue that with proper targeting can bring multiple benefits, not only to sport but to many sectors in our country.
Referring now to the organized sets, it is common belief that sports federations are a key pillar of development and progress of sport in our country. In many of the cases, and I know this personally, the contribution is voluntary, made out of love for sport and often at personal cost. It is precisely for this reason that we strengthen the funding of sports federations and, by extension, our athletes, always, of course, on the basis of specific deliverables and taking into account the modern data in the field of sport.
My presence here tonight along with four members of the Cabinet and the indicative things I have mentioned confirm the importance that we as a Government attach to the promotion of sport in our country for the benefit of our sporting community and beyond, while at the same time utilizing the principles and values that we have set out in this report.
My presence here tonight along with four members of the Cabinet and the indicative things I have mentioned confirm the importance that we as a Government attach to the promotion of sport in our country for the benefit of our sporting community and beyond, utilizing at the same time the principles and values that we have set out in this report. With the close cooperation of all the competent bodies, all of you, through the suggestions, proposals and the exchange of best practices, I am absolutely sure that in the coming years our sport will rise to even higher levels.
Allow me to make special mention - and I do so with absolute sincerity - and thank the President and members of the Governing Board of the COA and congratulate them for the work they have accomplished during their term of office. They are a legacy and a great legacy for all of us, among other things, the plans they have promoted for young talent - something very important, the support for athletes and institutions at all levels of our sports structure, the improvement of sports infrastructure - another area where significant work has been done, the targeted support for refugee clubs and religious groups and their multi-level action to promote social and mass sport.
I take this opportunity to invite the new President and the new members of the Board of Directors of the Agency, responding to the expectations of all of us, to build on the important work that has been done and to work with great dedication to carry out their mission.
In closing, I would like to address all those who are being honoured tonight. Dear honorees, dear honorees, I warmly congratulate you on your awards. We feel and are particularly grateful to you, since, guided by your special love for sport and our country, you strengthen, through your daily life, through your actions, our efforts for the qualitative upgrading of sport in our country. You are role models for the whole of our society and you are the main protagonists in our efforts to take sport in our country even further ahead. Thank you for everything.
(PM/AF/MS)
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