FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE
79th FIG Congress & General Assembly Cancun (MEX) 2012
Presidential Report
Dear Friends,
Before evaluating the achievements of the last four years, I would first like to mention the core
management programmes that we have initiated within the Federation. I use the collective `we'
deliberately, as the Federation has been driven by the Executive Committee and, to a large extent
where the regulations are concerned, by the FIG Councils.
The objectives of the initial concept framed in 1996 have largely been adhered to, although they
have had to be adjusted to reflect the realities of a world that is constantly changing.
The circumstances surrounding the development of modern sport are also constantly changing,
and that has been duly reflected within the internal dialogue of the Executive Committee, resulting
in essential or urgent amendments, deferrals and modifications.
Nevertheless, the original initiative remains broadly relevant today, and in my opinion continues to
define the direction in which gymnastics should develop.
Major advances have included statutory, regulatory and operational changes, and a general
modernisation of gymnastics in terms of the increased emphasis placed on fairness and cultural
education.
That being said, our sport comprises two dimensions at opposite ends of the spectrum. The
simplicity of grassroots gymnastics, which is open to all, contrasts with the sport at its most
elevated level, where there is a high degree of specialisation that can be difficult for the general
public to engage with and understand.
We must work tirelessly to change this disparity if we want to raise our sport to a level where
greater viability and increased visibility are possible.
Grassroots gymnastics, which offers physical benefits that are accessible to everyone,
needs to play a larger role and command greater respect in the eyes of the public. This is
something that we must continually strive to support through new ideas and innovations
In elite level gymnastics, there must be changes to the format and organisation of
competitions. The scoring system must also be simplified to make it more transparent and
comprehensible to the general public, and the ranking system must be made perfectly clear
In our pursuit of truly credible and indisputable fairness in the sport, we must continue our efforts to
put in place mechanisms and regulations that will create the ideal conditions to achieve this.
These mechanisms have been implemented for the most part. The most complex issue is the
integrity of the judges. By definition, judges must act with conscious impartiality, must be qualified,
and must have a deep sense of their responsibilities. This applies to all levels of the sport.
The quality of judging is crucial to those key elements that help underpin our sport at the elite level:
namely the accuracy and credibility of the results, broadcasting contracts, and the promotion and
popularisation of gymnastics around the world.
We cannot claim that changes are taking place if we constantly continue to do the same things
over and over again. This will lead to mistakes being made, not just by those who are unwilling to
reach for innovative solutions, but by us as well.
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FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE