Amman, Jordan, September 23, 2022: The President of the Internationa lOlympic Committee, Dr. Thomas Bach, has paid a two-day visit to Jordan during which he visited the Olympic Preparation Centre in the capital Amman as well as the Zaatari refugee camp.
On the opening day of his visit, on Thursday, September 22, IOC chief Bach toured the Olympic Preparation Centre accompanied by Jordan Olympic Committee President HRH Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein.
This was followed by a visit to the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp accompanied by officials from the UN, UNHCR Jordan and Generations for Peace Foundation.
At his first stop, President Bach was briefed on the facilities at the Olympic Preparation Centre, opened in 2018 and the first of its kind in Jordan, providing multiple services to high-performing athletes in both Olympic as well as non-Olympic sports.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Jordan Olympic Committee to provide full care for athletes of both sexes and in search of Jordan for excellence in various major sports championships,” Bach noted.
“I have spoken with a number of Jordanian athletes and they are very happy to have an Olympic Centre that provides services to them,” Bach added.
HRH Prince Faisal said: “We are honoured to receive Dr. Bach. This Centre was built to provide various services to athletes and support them to achieve honour for Jordan and this comes within the framework of the national strategy for Jordanian sports.”
President Bach then visited the Zaatari refugee camp where he and Prince Faisal signed an agreement renewing a partnership between the Olympic Refugee Foundation and Generations for Peace for a further three years. The new partnership is designed to include more than 3,000 sporting activities for 15,000 displaced young people.
Commenting on this important visit, Prince Faisal said: “Through successive regional crises, Jordan has not hesitated to open its borders to all victims of all conflicts and wars, and under the wise Hashemite leadership of my brother His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al Hussein, has demonstrated its firm commitment to embracing those affected by displacement.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Olympic Refugee Foundation and the IOC to provide continued support to Jordan. This renewed partnership will enable us to continue to carry out our mission of building peace in Jordan and the world at large,” Prince Faisal added.
