The island of Procida was the Italian Capital of Culture for the year 2022 and the project “Procida: where sport is culture too”, has the merit of having confirmed that sport is culture.
The sociologist Prof. Gennaro Testa, creator of the project and of the fairplay passport, has identified an implementation path for its transformation into an “International Fair Play Passport”, which will begin its journey from the place where the Olympic Games were born, launching a strong message of symbolism in Olympic values.
The “Fair Play Passport” sets sail from the small island of Procida, with the liveliness of its territory, towards the whole world, as a testimony of educational, integrated and sustainable sport, with a broad gaze on the future, not only fantasy, which is always needed, but concreteness of the journey, towards the achievement of the most important objectives: respect and peace.
The “Fair Play Passport” from Procida arrives in Olympia, a messenger and witness of values such as health, well-being, sociability, the ability to accept challenges, full of precious educational tools and personal and social growth factors:
- the path from equal opportunities to equal dignity,
- the evolution of the culture of selection to the culture of inclusion,
- the right to be protagonists without the obligation to be champions,
- experiencing disability not as a world apart, but a part of the sporting world,
The “Fair Play Passport” transmits all its values to the new and unprecedented “International Fair Play Passport” and in Olympia, with an official ceremony, certifies and bears witness to its birth.
The event will be carried out in collaboration with the National Olympic Academy of Greece and will take place in Ancient Olympia on June 3, 2023.
The Greek Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Academy organize every year, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, an Olympic week in schools for students aged 6 to 15.
The III Olympic Week in Schools this year will take place from 8 to 12 May and primary and secondary schools from all over Greece and Cyprus will participate.
Through the Olympic values, numerous topics related to the school program will be addressed: physical education, health and well-being, civic education, cultural diversity, developing various skills in the students: reflection, self-knowledge and personal values, management of emotions, tolerance and coexistence, respect of others and rules, experience in the field of motor activities and sports.
Following the event the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Academy will offer thirteen (13) schools in Greece and one (1) school in Cyprus, after a lottery, a three-day trip with free travel, accommodation and meals at the facilities of the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia
The educational visit will take place from 2 to 4 June 2023 and will be attended by around 220 students.
This educational visit is a special occasion for the presentation and promotion of the International Fair Play Passport and the link with the Ancient Olympia site is unique.
The International Fair Play Passport is an institution that creates value for society and for sport.
The event includes an exceptional choreography, inspired by the choreographer Artemis Ignatiou, famous for the traditional quadrennial lighting ceremony of the Olympic Flame.
Seven dancers, in the characteristic costumes of the Olympic tradition of ancient Olympia, will make the birth of the International Fair Play Passport at the Pierre de Coubertin monument in the structure of the International Olympic Academy of Olympia.
All phases of the event will be videotaped to create a professional video lasting 5 minutes.
The video project provides for the delivery to all students of diplomas (A4 sheet format) with the image of the International Fair Play Passport, then the girls and boys will roll them up to form a cylinder, which represents the witness of the athletics races.
In the splendid Stadio dell’Accademia Olimpica, with flags from all over the world in the wind, a drone from above will film the students, who will simultaneously run freely in all directions announcing, in an exciting way, the beginning of the journey of the ‘International Fair Play Passport to all parts of the world.
In addition, the passport will be handed over to the authorities and to all students during the event.
Furthermore, a questionnaire on what is fair play and what is not will be prepared and presented to the students.
Finally, then, there will be a declaration, which will be signed by those who embrace the Olympic ideals and essentially a network of people who embrace fair play can be built.
It will be possible in the future to make a record by country and in Ancient Olympia and collect data from all countries, for interesting application studies.
The world is preparing to live with Paris 2024, a new Olympic event. Beyond the massive hype to which the Olympic Games are the object, it is undeniable that they retain a very powerful symbolic appeal. Behind and within the competition between the athletes, the set of Olympic values reappears: fair play, participation, friendship, loyalty, solidarity, commitment, respect, courage, self-improvement, peace, equality and internationalism.
It is this enlightened humanism that gives the Games an attraction capable of involving the whole world, regardless of cultural differences, and which goes beyond the mere sporting spectacle. As such, they hold unrivaled potential to shape popular culture globally, and the International Fair Play Passport embodies that spirit.