The Somali National Olympic committee has described the participation of the world sports ministers in last month’s biannually-held Association of the National Olympic Committees (ANOC) congress, as a very positive step which will lead governments to give a greater hand in developing sports in their countries.
“I am very optimistic that the outcome of the congress will yield positive results, because sports ministers from the ANOC member nations who attended the meeting pledged a greater involvement in developing sports in their countries” Somali NOC head of international relations said in a press statement Monday.
“Somali youth and sports minister was invited to the congress, but she didn’t come due to some reasons and we will deliver the document from the congress to her” said Mr. Duran Farah who represented Somalia in the 17thANOC meeting held in the Mexican city of Acapulco from 19-24 of October 2010.
It was the first time in history that youth and sports ministers from around the world were invited to the ANOC congress held once in every two years and Somali NOC showed its satisfaction with the ministers’ attendance in the meeting.
“I am very confident that our youth and sports minister will implement the call from the meeting which demanded governments to have a greater role in developing youth sports programs” Somali NOC head of International relation said in his emailed press statement.
Duran said that his NOC is currently drawing new initiatives to develop sporting activities in the lawless horn of the African Nation of Somalia which has been undergoing chaos and bloody armed clashes for the past two decades.
Somalia fell into anarchy in January 1991 with all the country’s constitutional institutions destroyed, but the Somali Olympic committee and its member federations of which football is the major have been holding up the Somali flag since then.