Blatter opens Young Reporters Program

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 13 years ago

BAKU: FIFA president Sepp Blatter Saturday opened the AIPS Young Reporters Program which coincides with the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan.

According to the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), the program will see 16 young sports reporters from seven continents participate in a unique training experience to further develop their sports reporting skills.

Blatter showed his full support of the program by giving a passionate speech encouraging reporters to convey positive emotions about sport.

He said reporters have a rare opportunity to transmit the emotions from sport to the rest of the world and to spread the message of hope, “that if you don’t win today, you can win tomorrow."

Blatter said it was important the focus was not only on who scored the most goals, but also on the sport’s position in society.

This is the first collaboration at a FIFA tournament and is supported by the Azerbaijan Ministry of Sports and Youth and the Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee. It follows the 2011 AIPS/FISU Young Reporters Program at the Shenzhen Summer Universiade in China.

Minister for Youth and Sports Mr Azad Rahimov welcomed the young reporters to Baku and said his ministry and the NOC were very pleased to support the program.

AIPS President, Gianni Merlo, acknowledged the special opportunity to work with the top sporting organization in the world as “the future is in the hands of the young generation.”

Merlo said the aim of the program was to produce top quality journalism.

Young reporters will have an experience of the tournament and also receive first hand advice from the industry experts.