The three cities seeking to host the 2013 Mediterranean Games made their presentations in Egypt. Inas Mazhar saw the contenders putting their best foot forward The three cities seeking to host the 2013 Mediterranean Games have all made their presentations to the International Mediterranean Games executive board that met earlier this week in Cairo. Vying for the prestigious event is the city of Mersin in Turkey, the Croatian city Rijeka and the Greek city Volos. The winner will be announced in October. The presentations took place at the Egyptian Olympic Committee headquarters which hosted the executive meetings of the International Mediterranean Games Committee. The presentations, held to culminate the two- day meetings, took place in alphabetic order. Each city was given half an hour. Mersin was up first. Last year, the announcement that the southern city would bid to host the Games was made by Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen. In his address, Tuzmen emphasised the dedication Mersin had and that its residents had united in lobbying for the bid, putting political affiliations aside. "Mersin is the pearl of the Mediterranean," he said. "Mersin's people have been lobbying to be the host city of the 17th Mediterranean Games. This is the picture I want to see. I will do my best to support this synergy." Mersin is a port city on the coast of southern Turkey and is the capital of Mersin province. According to the head of the organising committee, 50 per cent of the population are youngsters and it is mostly them who want the Games to be held in Mersin. Tuzmen said that to host the Games, there will be no visa applications to enter the country for any athlete nor will there be customs for any equipment entering the country for the Games. Despite the fact that the Croatian city Rijeka has had three unsuccessful candidatures, all the projects that had been made prior to that candidature, starting from the swimming pool complex at Kantrida to the university campus on Trsat, are now being realised, pointed out the mayor of the city Obersnel. The president of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Zlatko Mateöa, gave his full support to the latest candidature of Rijeka. Mateöa said that Rijeka consistently implements the concept of developing a sports city in all of its segments. All that was planned is now being constructed, from the Kantrida swimming pool in Trsat campus, to tomorrow's new stadium in Rujevica, if necessary. Rijeka is a city open to sports, so Mateöa said he was convinced that as far as the organisation of bigger sports competitions is concerned, Rijeka would be able to respond to every challenge. As Rijeka has almost all of the necessary materials ready and the facilities are being constructed, a new candidature would not cost a lot of money. Mateöa believed Rijeka should apply again, deserving another candidature, adding that the government of the Republic of Croatia will not fail to give its support. Volos, the third largest port of Greece, and Larisa, two historical cities located in the region of Thessaly, in Central Greece, are known for their sports activities down the years. The objective of the candidacy, apart from the development and the international promotion of the cities of Volos and Larisa and the wider region, is to upgrade the Mediterranean Games and make them the most important sport event in the Mediterranean region, to attract the best athletes of the participating countries, to offer hospitality to the largest number of visitors and to provide the best preparation, accommodation and competition conditions to the athletes. "The bid by Volos and Larisa is first and foremost human-centred," Isidoros Kouvelos, president of the bid committee, said. "Its objective is to promote the culture, the environment, the friendship and the cooperation of the Mediterranean people and at the same time upgrade the Games by offering the best hospitality and the best competition conditions to the athletes, and the best coverage of their efforts. "We, as a professional team that had the unique experience of organising the successful Olympic Games in 2004, with highly-trained volunteers and with the full support of the local societies, would like to declare to our distinguished visitors that we have the will and the ability to organise a unique Mediterranean Games in 2013." Deputy Minister of Sports George Orfanos said the hospitality of major international events in Greece "are part of our policy's priorities. Greece is able and willing to organise the Mediterranean Games, as it has a unique experience in international events. "We will be ready to host a unique Mediterranean Games in 2013 if you give us the honor of selecting us," Orfanos said. The last Games were held in Almeria, Spain in 2005 and the next Games are in the Italian coastal city of Pescara in 2009. The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years for the nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The idea of holding the Games was proposed at the 1948 Summer Games by Mohamed Taher Pasha, president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee. They were inaugurated on October 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, in honour of Mohamed Taher Pasha, the man to whom their inspiration is owed, with contests being held in 13 sports along with the participation of 734 athletes from 10 countries. Ever since, they have taken place without interruption. In 1993, it was decided it should be held every four years. The Mediterranean Games stand as the greatest sport event of the Mediterranean region, attracting the interest of the maritime countries, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The Games are an opportunity for a peaceful confrontation between youth from three continents, different cultures and religions, yet bound together by a common ideal, the Olympic Ideal, which sprung from an ancient Mediterranean country, Greece, the cradle of the contemporary western civilisation. A chance is thus given, through the Games, for young people to get to know each other, appreciate each other, reaffirm or strengthen their ties in a climate of peaceful rivalry. The vision of the bid committee is to bring together high level athletes from all the Mediterranean countries who will compete in line with the Mediterranean ideals, fair play and the regulations of the international sports federations. The Games, held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, fall within the competence of the Hellenic Olympic Committee in terms of the preparation and composition, precisely as for the Olympic Games. Their establishment must be credited to the HOC for it played a leading role in their being founded. Athens is the permanent seat of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (irrespective of who the president might be) and the committee's general secretary is Greek. This is a further tribute to Greece, highlighting its leading role as regards the function and strengthening of the institution. The logo of the Games, called the 'Mediterranean Olympics', is composed of three white rings symbolically representing the three continents Africa, Asia and Europe that have coasts on the Mediterranean, reflecting themselves in the blue colour of the sea. The logo has been used since the Split Games of Yugoslavia in 1979, for which it was devised and afterwards accepted for the whole Games. During the closing ceremony, the flag of the Games is transferred to the country of the city chosen for the organisation of the next Mediterranean Games. International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge announced the patronage of the IOC to the Mediterranean Games and that he will attend the opening ceremony of the 16th Games in Pescara on 26 June 2009.
