Maglione: Re-election as FINA president is a great honor and responsibility"
(ATR) Julio Maglione tells Around the Rings that being unopposed for re-election as FINA president at the General Congress in Barcelona is “a great honor and an even greater responsibility”.
In this respect, the IOC member from Uruguay finds himself in the same position as in 2009 when he won another four-year mandate.
“Modestly, I think that FINA has developed a very solid strategy during the last four years, leading to a better recognition of our sport, an enhancement of our competitions, and a stronger position in a very challenging sport business environment,” he said.
The 203 national federations agree that FINA is moving in the right direction, he added, supporting them in their daily activities and doing its utmost to guarantee their independence and allow the participation of their best athletes in our events.
“It is therefore important to maintain this co-operation and count on the support of the Bureau, national federations, and FINA committees and commissions.”
Maglione is scheduled to present a report on the FINA Bureau’s activities since the last general congress in 2009. The Barcelona congress will elect the Bureau, the swimming federation’s decision-making body, for the period 2013-2017 and approve changes to update FINA’s Constitution “and make it more adapted to the new environment we are living in.”
“In 2011, in Shanghai, we held an Extraordinary Congress in which our Constitutional Rules were completely revised and now, in Barcelona, we will finish this important task and be ready for building up a more dynamic and modern FINA,” he said.
“One of the main changes relates to the maximum number of terms (two) for the president, honorary secretary and honorary treasurer and the maximum age of 80-years-old for its members.”
Another key moment on the congress agenda is the decision on the location of the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.
Asked what he made of the four bids for the event, the 77-year-old said: “The FINA World Championships has become a very attractive event for the cities/national federations aiming at hosting FINA’s major event.
“The significant impact and importance of the
Open Water Swimming will have a technical congress during the General Congress in Barcelona (Getty Images)
legacy is measured in terms of sport, infrastructure, touristic and social development.”
He added: “Saying this, we have four strong candidates – Baku (AZE), Budapest (HUN), Gwangju (KOR) and United Arab Emirates (city to be confirmed) - for the organization of our 2019 and 2021 edition of the FINA World Championships, presenting solid bids and showing great interest in organizing this prestigious event.”
Maglione left open the question of whether the Barcelona congress would award 2021 World Aquatics Championships.
“The Bureau may consider that the level of the bids is fulfilling the FINA requirements and may also award the organization of the 2021 edition of the championships,” he explained.
“This strategy aims at guaranteeing the stability of FINA’s calendar for the years to come, to reinforce the co-operation with national federations and organizing committees, giving them enough time to prepare and build a great event.”
He noted that the main improvement was related to the inclusion, from 2015 in Kazan, of the FINA World Masters Championships in the program of the FINA World Championships.
“We are therefore moving from a universe of 2,500/3,000 athletes to a joint organization capable of mobilizing up to 14,000 competitors,” Maglione said.
Synchronized Swimming (Getty Images)
In addition to the General Congress, FINA is holding six technical congresses for each of its disciplines – swimming, water polo, diving, synchronized swimming, open water swimming, and masters.
“These congresses are the privileged opportunity, every four years, to review our technical rules so that our sport can gain in simplicity and understanding,” Maglione said. “This year, many national federations as well as our technical committees have made valuable proposals to enhance our disciplines and make our sport even more attractive. All these recommendations will now be submitted to the congresses’ delegates for their approval.”
Reported by Mark Bisson
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