Day 3 of The European Youth Sport Forum: SPORT DIPLOMACY

The theme of Sport Diplomacy was central to the third day of the Forum. The participants were engaged in the presentation as the forum kicked off with a panel discussion with the participation of panellists hailing from different walks of life. The members of the panel were Steven Fenech, who is a professional local wheelchair dancer, Vlada Kravchecko, a Maltese Paralympian and Ambassador of SportMalta in the European Week of Sport and Mr Robert Portelli, Director of Programmes at SportMalta. All three gave their input on how throe backgrounds and experiences contribute to establishing sport diplomacy and highlighting the real meaning behind this theme.

The day was then characterised by another panel discussion concentrating on intercultural dialogue through sport which is so vital for Sport Diplomacy. The panel discussion was this time made up of three participants: Rachid Chouhal who is an Athletics National team Athlete, Milos Stanisavljevic, a former Handball Serbian National Team player and Elena Malikova, Head of Unit of International Cooperation in Sport from the Ministry of Education, Science, research and Sport of the Slovak Republic. The discussion underlined the integration of athletes through sport in any society and how sport can bring together different cultures. All three speakers spoke about their personal experiences.

At the end of the forum the participants again participated in a number of workshops and gave their input in the drafting of recommendations in the field of Sport Diplomacy. Following this the participants were given a unique opportunity to visit the Maltese parliament and actively contribute to a debate with the Maltese Members of Parliament on the theme of Diplomacy.

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