Bangkok has just hosted a week-long celebration of youth muaythai, and the international diplomatic community came out in force to support the young athletes.
Many ambassadors and representatives from various embassies attended the spectacular Opening and Closing ceremonies during the week. But this was not their only support, as they also showed up for competition days and invited the young athletes to visit the Embassies in Bangkok.
Charissa Tynan, IFMA sport director said it was great to see the level of support the teams have from the diplomatic world – and a good indicator of the strength of youth sport in these countries. She said these athletes are young but their commitment to training and to representing their country on the world stage is as strong as with any adult athlete, and that is what the Ambassadors recognised.
Among the ambassadors attending the Opening Ceremony at the National Stadium in Bangkok was Mr. Kirill Barsky, Russia’s ambassador to Thailand. The embassy is a great supporter of youth sport, and of Russian muaythai.
The championships was officially opened by Mr. Itthipol Kunplome, Thailand’s deputy minister for sport and tourism.
The young Polish team met with Ambassador Waldemar Dubaniowski at the embassy in Bangkok. The Ambassador also attended many of the events held during the week, meeting with the young team and supporting them all the way to the finals in some cases.
The Spanish Ambassador to Thailand Emilio de Miguel Calabia met with representatives from the Spanish muaythai world at the Embassy. Ambassador Emilio de Miguel Calabia said the discussion was around ways to further cooperation between Spain and Thailand to develop the sport of muaythai. He met with Gustavo Luna, from the FEKM association who is also an Executive Board member of IFMA.
Andelfo Garcia, ambassador for Colombia to Thailand met with the Colombian delegation at the Embassy. Team manager David Gonzalez and his two young athletes Samuel Chaverra and Moise Arango were delighted to meet with the Ambassador. They discussed the growth of muaythai in Colombia and future plans for more development.
The young German team was invited to attend a performance of the Muaythai Live show by the Germany embassy. The youth were excited to see this show, and were also invited onto the stage in a lovely moment organised by Mr Rainer Mueller, attache at the embassy. The whole team also attended a lunch at the Germany embassy in Thailand.
On August 9th all of the youth teams attended the 2018 Youth Forum held for the first time at the ESCAP building United Nations in Bangkok, in cooperation with GAISF and United Through Sports. Many diplomatic representatives attended this exciting day including from the Russian embassy on behalf of Mr. Kirill Barsky, and also a representative from the Libyan embassy in Bangkok.
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