Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear athletes,
Respected sport admirers,

It is my real pleasure to greet you all today at this celebration of sport and sportsmanship. Today we finalize the first phase of the project "Social and Ethnic Integration through Sports". The project called "Sportsmanship".

We live in a time when the run to our own success too often turns into a battle against the success of others. A time when the sport field turns from a cheer-leading arena to a battlefield of mutual insults and humiliations. A time of competitions in which, due to the lack of a fair game, all are losers, including the sports.

We realized that the only way to prevent this negative perception and practice of sport is by personal example. By returning to the values, principles and rules of the real sport, the sportsmanship.

In past few months, we successfully ran the first round dedicated to the sportsmanship in the Republic of Macedonia. Our racing track passed through seven multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multilingual communities, and indirectly included thousands of students. It all started in Kavadarci. We went to Rosoman, Tearce, Debar, Centar Zupa and Valandovo. Today we were in Skopje, in the municipality of Aerodrom.

Through this project, many children understood that the role of sport is to bring people together, to connect and integrate rather than to separate and isolate. Many young people learned that the sport is mostly play, fun, recreation. That sportsmanship means dignified competition and mutual respect. Many pupils learned that the best sporting victory is the one obtained through fair play. That the only valuable victory is the one in which there are no losers.

Playing sports together, children understood what they need to know about their friends who are different from them. That they need to know about their life, their communication and customs, their needs and desires. Children through sports understood what is necessary to really get to know their peers, regardless of their ethnic, religious, linguistic affiliation.

This project encouraged and helped sports workers, teachers and professors to continue to teach children good sporting behavior. It encouraged fans and clubs to cheer the athletes and teams in a positive way.

Distinguished Guests,

The project message is clear: there are not only rules in sports, but also rules of sporting behavior, both in the field and in the benches. These rules apply to all participants. By observing and practicing sportsmanship, sport will fulfill its role of social and ethnic integrator.

Sportsmanship restores the power of sports to connect, promote non-violence, respect and affirm common ideas and values.

The race goes on. It will be continued by thousands of children who were involved in the project.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If sport fields and benches are places for making friends among children, then sportsmanship is the language that they can understand each other. Therefore, we continue to tirelessly promote this way of building unity and friendship among people. We owe this to our children.

Thank you.