Delegates pictured at the European Fair Play Congress in Haifa ©European Olympic Committees

The Olympic Committee of Israel (OCI) recently hosted the 23rd European Fair Play Congress, in Haifa, at which Gilad Lustig, secretary general of the Olympic Committee of Israel, and Olympism project manager Hilla Davidov, were awarded the World Fair Play diploma for "Promotion of Fair Play".

They received this in recognition of the success of the project of that name which involved 6,000 children in 100 Israeli schools.

The diploma was presented by the International Fair Play Committee President Jeno Kamuthy.

110 people from 25 European fair play bodies focused on "Sports as a Tool for Reconciliation", with the event being co-hosted by the European Fair Play Movement (EFPM), the OCI, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Academic College at Wingate and the Municipality of Haifa.

Eytan Barak, a representative of the OCI and the Israeli delegate to the EFPM, opened the two-day working sessions, while the keynote speakers included Professor John Sugden of the University of Brighton, Professor Halina Zdebska-Biziewska and Dr Yotam Lurie of Ben-Gurion University.

Ankle Spitzer, widow of the murdered Israeli fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, was among the speakers at the event in Haifa ©Getty Images
Ankle Spitzer, widow of the murdered Israeli fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, was among the speakers at the event in Haifa ©Getty Images

Ankie Spitzer, widow of the Israeli Olympic fencing coach Andrei  Spitzer, who was killed by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, gave an inspiring talk on the need for reconciliation.

A delegate who attracted great interest was Miroslav Cerar, a Slovenian gymnast and lawyer, who won the pommel horse event at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics.

He also won three World and nine European championships, and has been involved with the Slovenian Olympic Academy, the Fair Play Commmission of the Slovenian Olympic Committee and the Executive Committee of the EFPM.