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history

 

CONFEDERATION’S HISTORY

The creation of an Association of Fencing Federations of the countries around the Mediterranean basin was first considered in the 1990s.
Alberto Pellegrino, the then Vice-President of the Italian Fencing Federation, was the prime mover, after a series of meetings with numerous Presidents of the African Federations. The latter had contacted him in the hope of an agreement with the Italian Federation, primarily to provide assistance in updating techniques and in the preparation of technicians.
The idea was to create a Confederation and a date was set to coincide with the Mediterranean Games in Bari in 1997.
Mr. Pellegrino, who as everyone will remember was the Olympic Sword Fencing Champion in Melbourne and in Rome, had a sentimental attachment to the North African coast. He was born in Tunis and spoke Arabic, although his family was Sicilian, and he had also lived in France before finally settling down in Milan.
Sadly he died in 1995 before the Confederation was more than a dream.
A few years later Giorgio Scarso, the then President of the Cadet and Junior World Championship Organisation Committee, programmed for 2003 in Trapani, broached the idea again. He wanted to make these Championships a memorable fencing event. With others as keen and convinced as himself he took the original project in hand. The Italian Federation was interested but above all the North African countries became the instigators of an Assembly to constitute the Confederation.
Renè Roch, President of the F.I.E. also endorsed the initiative and authorised the Constitution of the Organisation to be held on the 8th April 2003 which was the rest day during the Championships.
This is the official date of the birth of the MEDITERANEAN FENCING CONFEDERATION.
The Constitutional Assembly was held in Marsala, a city dear to the Italians because it was from there almost a century and a half ago that the famous ‘Sbarco dei mille’ set sail. This was the epic event engineered by Garibaldi which brought about the birth of the Italian Nation, uniting the population of the whole peninsular under the Reign of the House of Savoia.
The Assembly was chaired by Renè Roch and headed by Lioniero del Maschio who, after the approval of the Statutes and the setting down of the articles by the delegates who were present, was unanimously elected President of the Confederation.

 

René Roch and Lioniero del Maschio durig the Costitutive Meeting in Marsala

The Constitutive Act bore the signatures of the representatives of eleven Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Italy, Monaco, Tunisia and Turkey.
The Executive Committee was elected, with the Algerian Abderrahmane Lamari as Vice-President. Also elected were Mohammed Abdallah from Egypt, Dimitri Kontos from Greece, Marco Antonio Rioja Perez from Spain and Abdelaziz Zuari from Tunisia. Serge Plasterie from France was General Secretary and the Treasurer was Cemal Burnaz from Turkey.
It is due to these enthusiastic representatives that the somewhat nebulous initial ideas were transformed into a functioning realty acknowledged as such by the countries which belong to it.
The number of countries which belong to the Confederation has risen to fifteen with the addition of Croatia, Morocco, Serbia and San Marino, and now comprises almost all the countries in the Mediterranean basin in which fencing is organised by a Sports Federation.
After the constitution and a brief first meeting, the Executive Committee met for a second time in Istanbul at the invitation of the Turkish President Mr. Bulbul. This was an historic meeting in which decisions were taken that have profoundly affected the life of the confederation.

 

The Members of the Executive committee visit Istanbul with the Turkish President Mr Bulbul.

The third meeting was in Tunis. It was then that the rules and regulations were set down to govern the Mediterranean Championships due to take place in Istanbul in 2004. It was decided during this meeting that Cadets as well as First Year Juniors should be allowed to take part and that the Championships should therefore be reserved for athletes under 18.

 

The members of the Executif Committee in Tunis

On this occasion the Executive Committee of the Federation was received by the Tunisian Minister for Sport, Mr. Abderrahim Zouari.

 

The President Mr Lioniero del Maschio talking with Mr Abderrahim Zouari, the Tunisian Minister for Sport,.

At the beginning of 2004 the first Mediterranean Championships were held. Ten countries were present at Istanbul, the perfect setting for the games which were of undoubted interest.
In Istanbul the first General Annual Meeting also took place. Renè Roch, President of the F.I.E., was present together with the representatives from Algeria, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Portugal, Tunisia, and Turkey. There was unanimous approval for the first year’s work carried out by the Confederation.
The following meeting of the Executive Committee was in Malta. The President, Mr.del Maschio, wanted members of the committee to meet each of the National Federations and to learn about the organisation in the individual member countries. Malta represented an experience that was extremely positive: from that moment on the participation of the Maltese in the life of the Confederation, and of the Championships developed increasingly.

 

The Executive Committee met in Malta

A last meeting took place in Paris, in December, on the eve of the Elective Congress of the F.I.E. This meeting was entirely dedicated to the relationship of the International Federation with other Confederations in the area.

 

The President, Mr.del Maschio, at the Gala Dinner, in Paris.

At the beginning of 2005, after some difficulties arising from within the Tunisian Ministry of Sport, the Tunisian Federation was forced to give up the organisation of the Mediterranean Championship which had been assigned to them by the Assembly the previous year. An emergency meeting of the Executive Committee was called in Cairo to decide how to proceed. The Egyptian President Mohammed Abdallah, showing great understanding during this difficult moment, and despite the short time available, offered his Federation to organise the event.

 

The Executive Committee met in Cairo

Two months later, both the Championship and the General Assembly took place in Cairo, and the organisation, although hurried, was well- presented and excellent from the technical point of view as is usual when President Abdallah is involved. President Roch was unfortunately unable to be present because of a prior engagement with the Executive Committee of the F.I.E. and he therefore delegated Mario Favia to take his place.

 

The meeting of the Executive Committee of the Confederation, on the eve of the Championship

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The Executive Committee held its usual meeting on the eve of the championship and the Assembly, at which representatives from Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt Malta, Tunisia, Morocco and Yugoslavia were present

 

The Gala Dinner on a cruise boat on the Nile.

Several important decisions were taken including deciding the definitive date of the Mediterranean Championship, which was fixed for January.

 

 

 

General Assembly in Cairo

The next meeting of the committee took place in Italy, in Modica, at the kind invitation of Giorgio Scarso. Modica is in Sicily where Mr Scarso lives and where he founded and directs one of the most important fencing clubs for young Italians. The Committee meeting took place during an International Fencing Week, in which a convention entitled ‘Sport as an instrument of dialogue in the Mediterranean culture’ also took place. This was of extreme importance for the world of sport in Sicily due to the level of the participants.

 

The Executive Committee met in Modica

During the meeting a Referee’s Commission was set up, and a decision was made on the programme for the 2006 Championship in Hammamet. At the same time Serbia and Montenegro joined the Confederation.

 

The President Mr del Maschio with Mr Formosa from Malta during the convention.

The year 2005 closed with a course organised by the Italian Federation at Lignano Sabbiadoro. This was a great moment for the Confederation because over a hundred athletes and sixteen technicians from the Mediterranean Federation took part in the event. This was an exceptional sports festival at which athletes from Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Serbia/Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Malta and Italy came together.

 

The participants at the course at Lignano Sabbiadoro.

The third edition of the Championships took place as planned, at Hammamet, in Tunisia, at the beginning of January 2006. As usual a General Assembly was held, on this occasion with representatives from eleven countries: Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Malta, Serbia and Tunisia.
Renè Roch, the President of the F.I.E. and Amar Addadi, President of the International Committee for the Mediterranean Games were also present at the events in Tunisia. Together with the President, Mr.del Maschio, they were received by the new Tunisian Minister for Culture and Sport, Abdallah Kabi.
The Assembly assigned the organisation of the 2007 Championship to Italy and the 2008 Championship to Malta.

 

The President Mr del Maschio, Mr Roch and Mr Addadi with Mr Kabi the Tunisian Minister.

The following meeting of the Executive committee took place in Athens at the kind invitation of Emmanuel Katsiadakis, the President of the Greek Federation and Secretary General of the International Federation.
The committee took note of the withdrawal of Malta as the organisers of the 2008 Championship due to the lack of support on the part of the Maltese Olympic Committee for the Fencing Federation. Taking into account the offer received on this occasion, the organisation of the 2008 championship was assigned to Morocco, the decision to be ratified by the Assembly at Siracusa.

 

The Executive Committee met in Athens, with the president Mr. Katsiadakis

The last reunion of 2006 was in Madrid at the kind invitation of Marco Antonio Rioja, the President of the Federation, and Victor Sanchez, Secretary General of the Spanish Olympic Committee.
On this occasion important decisions were taken to improve the running of the Championships, including calling in International referees. At the same time the rules were set down for the organisation of the Assembly which was due to renew the Executive Committee of the Federation.
The year 2006 ended with the organisation of a ‘Course for the Formation of Fencing Technicians in the Mediterranean Basin Countries,’ at the ‘Scuola dello Sport’ del CONI in Ragusa (ITA). The course was organised with the help of the Italian Federation, The Commission for International Technical Cooperation, of the Italian Olympic Committee, as well as the International Committee for Mediterranean Games. Thirty-four technicians were present from thirteen countries: Egypt, Serbia, Greece, France, Turkey, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Morocco and Italy.

 

 

Two moments during the course at Ragusa

The 2007 Championships took place in Siracusa in January. This edition had a record attendance with 12 countries taking part: Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Malta, Portugal, Serbia, Turkey and Tunisia, and 108 athletes participating.
A very important General Assembly took place after a meeting of the Executive Committee which had reached the end of its term of office. Present or represented were twelve countries: Algeria, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece,Italy, Malta Monaco, San Marino, Serbia and Portugal. Present at the meeting were the President of the F.I.E. Mr Roch, the President of the CIJM, Mr Addadi, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, Mario Fava and Tonis Kaasik, the President of the Confederation of Nordic Countries, who had been invited by the President, Mr del Maschio.

 

Participants at the Elective General Assembly in Siracusa.

On this occasion, the President, Mr del Maschio, thanked Abderrahmane Lamari, the Algerian Vice president whose term of office had ended, as well as Marco Antonio Rioja and Abdelaziz Zouari, founder members of the confederation who were leaving the Committee for various reasons. Each of them was presented with a plaque as a souvenir.
The adhesion of San Marino was ratified. With this decision, the number of Confederation members rose to 15.

 

The Elective General Assembly in Siracusa.

 

Mr Addadi’s speech.

The vote for the renewal of the Executive Committee for the four year period 2007-2011, confirmed Mr Lioniero del Maschio as President. Mr Abdallah from Egypt and Mr Kontos from Greece were also confirmed. Mr Fèrial Sahli from Algeria, Mr Ammar Lofti from Tunisia and Mr Antonio Garcia from Spain were elected to the Committee. Mr del Maschio confirmed Mr Burnaz from Turkey as Treasurer and Mr Plasterie from France as Secretary General.
The Executive Committee held a meeting immediately after the Assembly and unanimously accepted Mr del Maschio’s proposal to elect Mr Abdallah from Egypt as Vice-President.

 

The Gala Dinner.

The Gala Dinner was the occasion for an exchange of gifts and of memories.

 

Mr Roch awards an F.I.E. medal to the President, Mr del Maschio.

The first meeting of the new four year term Committee took place in Belgrade on the invitation of the Serbian President Miodrag Niklovic.
The meeting, at which Zoran Timic the Technical director for Serbia, was also present, decided that the 2008 edition of the Mediterranean Championships should only be open to Cadets, bringing it in line with the International Championships.
France proposed a course for referees to be held in Arles.

 

The Executive Committee met in Belgrade

The last meeting of 2007 took place in October, in Tunis.
Final decisions on the running of the 2008 Championship at Casablanca were taken. After requests from many federations, the Committee decided to include Juniors in the Championship programme instead of limiting participation to Cadets.
At the General Assembly the Committee approved a series of proposals to modify the statutes.

 

The Executive Committee met in Tunis

2008 opened with the withdrawal of the Moroccan Federation from the organisation of the Championships. It was therefore necessary to postpone them until June and to find another federation to take over.
After two meetings, an informal one at Arcireale (ITA) during the World Championship, and one in Casablanca (Morocco) at the end of April, the choice fell on Tunis (TUN). The programmes for the competitions and for the next Assembly remain unvaried.
During the meeting the President, Mr del Maschio, presented the web-site for the confederation.

In 2008 the Morocco federation gave up to organize the championships scheduled since 2006 to happen in Casablanca. Then, we had to postpone these championships in order to find an alternative solution.
An informal meeting of the executive committee happened in Acireale (Italy) in the beginning of April to take advantage of the presence of some members in the world championships Jr/Cad. Tunis, Algiers and Belgrade had proposed their candidature to replace Casablanca during the end of June. The decision handed to an official meeting at Casablanca during the African championships.
Further to the meeting the decision is to give the organization 2008 to Tunis during the 28th to 30th of June. President del Maschio announced the website of the confederation is already working.

 

      The meeting of the executive committee at Casablanca

 

In Tunis, as usually, a meeting of the executive committe took place the day before the championships, with the majority of the representatives of the delegations and the Technical management board.

 

The meeting the day before the championships

 

At that moment that Treasurer Cemal Burnaz presented his resignation, after knowing that the new president of Turkish federation, elected right before that time, had asked officially his replacement.

 

President del Maschio with Mr Roche and the Tunisian Minister

 

The fifth Mediterranean championships have been inaugurated by the Tunisian minister of sports Mr. Kaabi. This event has been well organized and one can notice the participation of twelve countries and 161 athletes (74 cadets and 87 juniors). During the assembly the president of FIE was present and Ndiaye Mbagnick, the secretary general the African confederation. 14 countries were there including Palestine and Portugal.

 

 General assembly in Tunis

 

                                  

 

It has been confirmed during the assembly that 2009 championships will happened in Algiers and 2010 championships will be in Belgrade. Although some members asked whether Serbia can stay in CoMEs, because this country has no more a view in the Mediterranean Sea. The modification and the approbation of the statue will be discussed during the coming assembly in Algiers. The new version of the statue allowed President Rock to announce that from now on the entries to the competitions will be thru the FIE website.
President del Maschio invited Kontos to contact CIJM in order to verify the position of Serbia.
Further to the resignation of Burnaz, this position has been given temporary to the Tunisian Ammar.
The meeting after has been done in October at Chania in Create island, on invitation of the president of Greece federation Katsiadakis. For the first time FIE was present and represented by Mss Ana Pascu, the vice president, instead of Mr. Rock who apologized at the last moment.

 

     The executive committee in Create with Ana Pascu

 

The official recognition of the confederation by FIE has been discussed. In order to obtain the modification of the statue should be accepted by all the countries of CoMEs.
Some new rules has been introduced and will be applied during the championships of Algiers 2009. Only two athletes by country and by weapon either in junior or cadet and the team competition will be only two, male and female. According to the investigation of Kontos, Serbia has the right to remain in the confederation.

The last meeting of the year is happened in Paris, during the FIE elective congress. The secretary Plasterie has presented his resignation. This decision is linked to an internal problem in the French federation. The final decision will be taken in Algiers 2009.

 

 

  del Maschio with the palestinian Almitwally and Roch

 

   President del Maschio during the ceremony of Uzmanov

 

Some members of the CoMES have been elected in the executive committee of the international federation (FIE): Sanchez (Spain), Pietruska (France), Scarso (Italy), Kadsiadakis (Greece) and Salhi (Algeria).