Olympic Committee delegation attends ANOC meeting in Portugal

Baghdad - INA

The delegation of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, headed by Aqeel Muftan, attended the General Assembly meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Portugal today, Thursday.

A statement by the Iraqi National Olympic Committee - received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) - stated that "the President of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Aqeel Muftan, attended the 27th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Portugal, held in the Portuguese city of Cascais, accompanied by the First Deputy Khalid Abdul Wahid Kabyan and the Secretary-General Haitham Abdul Hamid.".

The statement added that "the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Robin Mitchell, the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, and the heads of more than 200 National Olympic Committees in the world attended the meeting, in addition to the presence of the advanced staff of the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations.

" The statement continued, "On the sidelines of the meeting, the President of the National Olympic Committee, Aqeel Muftan, held a number of bilateral meetings with a number of important figures, seeking everything that serves the Olympic movement in Iraq, and enhances the work of the national Olympic sports federations, where Muftan met with the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, and conveyed to him a brief vision of the recent Olympic renaissance witnessed by Iraq, and the support that sports receive from the Iraqi government.".

The statement explained that "Muftan also discussed the Iraqi Olympic affair with high-ranking officials in the International Olympic Committee, namely the Director of the Sports Department in Olympic Solidarity, Oliva Mianki, and the Director of Governance and Relations in the International Olympic Committee, Jerome Boivy, in an effort to receive international Olympic support, by involving Iraqi athletes in the Olympic Solidarity Program.".

The statement also indicated that "Muftan met with his counterpart, the head of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, who is of Iraqi origin, Zainab Al-Samarrai, in addition to the head of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, Mahrez Boussian, in separate meetings," where they both expressed their happiness at meeting Muftan and his accompanying delegation, and expressed their "desire to visit Iraq and open up prospects for joint bilateral cooperation with the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, in addition to his meetings with his counterparts, the heads of the Cuban, Belarusian and Irish Olympic Committees.".

The statement revealed that "Muftan also met with the head of the International Weightlifting Federation, Mohammed Hassan Jaloud, and discussed with him the memorandum of preparing the Iraqi weightlifters who are expected to participate effectively in the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics.".

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Haitham Abdul Hamid, held a series of bilateral meetings with the Secretary-General of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Gunilla Limberdich, as well as the Director of the Sports Department at Olympic Solidarity, Oliva Mianki, in addition to the Director of Governance and Relations at the International Olympic Committee, Jerome Boivy.".

The statement continued, "The Secretary-General of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Haitham Abdul Hamid, held several meetings with his counterparts, the Secretaries-General of the Cuban, Irish and Belarusian Olympic Committees."