In his first press conference, the new president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) Khaled Zeineddin announced the details of the Egyptian delegation going to the XVII Mediterranean Games in Mersin this year. The press conference was held at EOC headquarter in Cairo Stadium last week. The host city of the Games will be Mersin, Turkey. The tournament will take place from 20-30 June. Mersin is the second city in Turkey after Izmir to host the Mediterranean Games. Turkey hosted the Games for the first time in 1971 in Izmir, the sixth edition of the Games. Parallel with the press conference Zeineddin, who is also the head of the delegation, told Al-Ahram Weekly, “In the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy, Egypt won 11 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze medals. Egypt was ranked number seven in overall medals. “This year, the Egyptian delegation is 275-strong, including 189 athletes (145 men and 44 women) plus 16 administrators, 42 coaches, 18 referees, and four physicians.” They will take part in 22 sports -- athletics, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, rowing, canoe and kayak, sailing, judo, karate, taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, archery, equestrian, table tennis, badminton, handball, volleyball, basketball, Paralympics swimming and athletics. The Egyptian Cycling Federation and Football Federation apologised for not participating. “I expect Egypt will win medals in weightlifting, athletics, wrestling, taekwondo and karate. Egypt will exceed 38 medals,” Zeineddin predicted. Zeineddin proposed amendments to the rules and regulations of the EOC and Olympic sports federations. “A discussion on amendments was postponed to 18 May. We are waiting to take the opinions of the federations,” said Zeineddin. The Mediterranean Games is an international multi-sport event with participation from countries around the Mediterranean Sea where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The Games started in 1951 and are held every four years. It is governed by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG). The first edition of the Mediterranean Games was held in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 1951 and attracted 734 competitors from 10 nations. There are changes in the programmes of the Mersin Games in Turkey in comparison to the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara. Three new sports have been added: archery, badminton and taekwondo in addition to two disabled sports in athletics and swimming for athletes with physical disabilities. The Games of 2013 will feature a total of 27 sports -- swimming, Paralympics swimming and water polo, archery, athletics (athletics and Paralympics athletics), badminton, basketball, bocce, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, Gymnastics (artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics), handball, judo, karate, rowing, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball (beach volleyball and indoor volleyball), weightlifting, and wrestling. All 24 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) members of the ICMG are expected to participate in the Games: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and hosts Turkey. NOC Olympic members bordering the Mediterranean Sea which are not permitted to participate are Israel and Palestine. On a related note, the All-Africa Games of 2015 will be hosted by Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo. Said Zeineddin, “If the Congo bows out, Egypt will ask to host it.”
