17.04.2009.
Opening of 42nd world military championship
At the plateau of the Military Museum at Kalemegdan, 42nd World Military Chamipionship and 1st FIFA_CISM footsal cup started today. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac, SAF GS Chief LTG Miloje Miletic and the CISM (Counseil International du Sports Militaire-International Military Sports Council) Secretary General Colonel Mishell van Mers, as well as the most responsible persons in the defense system, along with the military defence attaches and the teams competing in marathon and footsal.
At the plateau of the Military Museum at Kalemegdan, 42nd World Military Chamipionship and 1st FIFA_CISM footsal cup started today. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac, SAF GS Chief LTG Miloje Miletic and the CISM (Counseil International du Sports Militaire-International Military Sports Council) Secretary General Colonel Mishell van Mers, as well as the most responsible persons in the defense system, along with the military defence attaches and the teams competing in marathon and footsal.Colonel van Mers presented Minister Sutanovac with the medal of “grand officer”, and LTG Miloje Miletic with the “grand knight” medal for remarkable support and success in the military sport.
Minister Sutanovac, opening 42nd World Military Championship and 1st FIFA-CISM footsal cup, thanked CISM for the trust deposited in Serbia and the Ministry of Defense for undertaking the organization of such important sports events.
– For the first time in history of Serbia, we have the opportunity to host such a large number of members of foreign armies. This is not only a sports competition, but alos an excellent opportunity to develop inter-military cooperation”, as Sutanovac stated. He also added that Kalemegdan had been a battle field for many times in its history, while in the next few days it would be a sports arena.
Colonel Mishell van Mers greeted all participants of these two great sports events calling them his “military brethren”, while expressing his admiration at the town which had been usurped and liberated 60 times in its long history, now hosting such great sports events. Van Mers alos reminded the present of the importance of the military sports for building friendship and understanding among all armies in the world.State Secretary of Serbian MoD Zoran Jeftic, the chief of Serbian delegation with CISM, greeted the participants wishing them better results in a fair competition.
The Serbian flag was hoisted by Senior Sergeant Goran Cegar, as the most successful marathon runner in the Serbian team, while CISM’s flag was hoisted by Sergeant Adam Drazinski from Poland, last year’s winner of the military marathon.
The world military championship in marathon will be held as part of Belgrade BANCA INTESA marathon while the semi-finals and the final footsal matches will be held tomorrow at SRC Bask terrains. There are 27 countries competing with 22 female and 92 male contesters, members of armed forces. The footsal teams from all Former Yugoslavian Republics will also compete.
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