New sports body has peaceful aims

Press, 28 March 1981, Page 64

New sports body has peaceful aims

NZPA

Melbourne

The Duke of Edinburgh has moved swiftly to head off any possible conflict between the international Olympic movement and the new world sports body he helped create.

Within, hours of, as he put it, ‘‘acting as midwife” at the birth of the International Assembly of National Sports Confederations, the Duke gave an assurance that it did not seek confrontation. “There are those who doubt whether it will achieve anything useful; there are others who are certain it is a mistake,” he told delegates to Sport International ’Bl at a banquet in Melbourne.

■ "But the assembly has not been set up in opposition to or to compete with any other international sports body.

“It exists to complement their work, and to provide a forum for all sports.

“We want to work with the international Olympic movement, and with inter-

governmental organisations,’ he said.

Outlining the basic philosophy of the 1.A.N.5.C., Prince Philip said that it aimed to promote what he termed “democratic self-gov-ernment” in sport.

“The need is to encourage participation in minor sport and to promote health and fitness, sport and recreation are essential elements in human satisfaction.”

Prince Philip has been closely connected with the formation of the new multinational body from the early planning stages, and on Thursday he chaired the opening session at which it came into being. At the banquet, Prince Philip quipped that “the delivery of the baby had been difficult.” I

’ He was referring to a marathon four-hour session needed to approve the I.A.N.S.C. constitution, and even then it was not unanimously accepted. Five delegates, from the United States, Trinidad, Japan, Sweden, and Norway, said that the membership was conditional on ratification by their parent bodies. The United States delegate, Robert Kane, a former president of the United States Olympic Committee, said that he was “baffled” by the new body, and was uncertain whether American membership would serve any good purpose. “I just don’t understand what the organisation is in business for. Nothing stands out, and there is no clearcut path,” he said.