Blatter heads star-studded panel

FIFA chief sits alongside Don King in Tel Aviv to discuss the power of sport.

By JEREMY LAST
blatter king 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
blatter king 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
A star-studded panel of international sporting personalities came together in Tel Aviv on Monday to discuss how they believe sport can be used to overcome hurdles outside the regular stadiums and arenas. Fresh from his visit to Jordan a few days earlier, FIFA President Sepp Blatter spoke about the unifying potential of what he termed "Association Football" as he sat alongside Real Madrid soccer club President Ramon Calderon and veteran boxing promoter Don King at the forum organized by the Peres Center for Peace as part of its 10th anniversary events. "When you play football you go through the school of life. Football brings people together and can make you a better person," Blatter told the audience. A day earlier the FIFA chief had been in the West Bank town of A-Ram to witness the opening of a Palestinian stadium and a friendly international between Jordan and Palestine which ended 1-1. It was the first time a Palestinian national team had been able to play a home match within the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. "This has opened doors and brought hope for everybody," Blatter said of the match. "Football gives emotions and what more do we need than emotions." The panel, which was moderated by sports journalist Ofer Shelah, also included former British Paralympic athletics star Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Olympic 400 medal gold medal winner Edwin Moses and Israel's only International Olympic Committee member Alex Gilady. During the 90 minute-long discussion gave each of the panel members a chance to reveal how they managed to get past difficulties in the past. Grey-Thompson has been wheelchair-bound since the age of seven but said she had never been discouraged from achieving her goals despite many people telling her she would not be able to make a life for herself. Over a 23-year career Grey-Thompson won a total of 16 Paralympic medals at various distances, including 11 golds before retiring last year. She won the London marathon six times between 1992 and 2002. "We shouldn't underestimate the power of sport. It is about challenging our youngsters to be the best they can," she said. While the British woman's story was inspiring, the undoubted star of the show was the 76-year-old King, whose poetic soliloquies captivated those present in the Dan Hotel's King David Hall. When asked if the violent sport of boxing can still break down barriers, King noted the impact that has been made by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism. Some of the world's top fighters are Eastern Europeans, including the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, who have taken the sport by storm in recent years. "Sports has had one of the greatest impacts in the world in helping us to address each other," King said. Moses, who won Olympic gold medals in 1976 and 1984, spoke about the emotional pain he felt after not being able to defend his first Olympic title due to the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. However he also noted how the political tension of the time had made the sport of athletics more international and encouraged the Western athletes to befriend the Eastern European athletes "We still used to meet up for a beer after the meets," he said with a smile. Moses is now the chairman of the Laureus World Sport Academy which runs events internationally focused on utilizing the positive influence of sports as a social change. "As an Olympic champion and someone who excelled at the very highest level when my career ended it took me a long time to find something which matched the energy and excitement of running," Moses said. "I really feel inspired and honored to be the Laureus chairman. It has taken a long time to get to this point where something is as enjoyable as the running without the training and the pain." The day also saw Calderon sign a partnership agreement with the Peres Center on behalf of the Real Madrid Foundation. Real Madrid is one of the most popular soccer teams in the world and runs camps and courses around the world to help underpriveliged youngsters. In June last year Real Madrid played a peace match in Israel sponsored by the Peres Center.