Earlier this week, the 86th AIPS Congress was held in Santa Susanna in Spain, where AIPS was also celebrating its Centennial since its foundation way back in 1924.

The Congress included various presentations from several media representatives from around the World, together with members from International Sport Federations who shared their latest details regarding the sporting events planned for the coming months.

Presentations included an update from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who gave the latest details regarding the upcoming edition of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and UEFA who presented their latest details with regards to the new format for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League. The European Athletics also shared their latest plans for the European Championship which are to be held this June in Rome.

Other presentations were given by UNESCO, FISU, IFBB, Special Olympics, and Erasmus. The Congress included online addresses by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the President of the African Football Federations (CAF), Patrice Motsepe.

The AIPS Sport Media Awards were also organised during the first day of the Congress, where awards were presented to the best sports journalists whose works were published and broadcast in 2023.

Malta was again represented at the AIPS Congress by Sandro Micallef and Lorraine Cunningham, President and General Secretary respectively of the Malta Sports Journalists Association. 

The Maltese delegation was very active at this year's Congress especially during the session when the new AIPS' code of ethics was presented as a draft format. Malta SJA President Sandro Micallef proposed no less than five amendments, which will be now forwarded and reviewed by the AIPS Executive Committee.

During the three days of the AIPS Congress, the General Assembly of AIPS Europe waas also held. AIPS Europe is currently led by President Charles Camenzuli. During this General Assembly, the administrative report was presented and approved, followed by a discussion about the future of sport media, mainly when it comes to open and safe access to the matches organised by UEFA. Recently European colleagues have reported incidents mainly involving photographers at pitch side.

AIPS Europe's General Assembly was also addressed by AIPS President Gianni Merlo.

Din il-ġimgħa fil-belt ta' Santa Susanna fi Spanja sar is-86 Kungress tal-AIPS fejn ġie ċċelebrat wkoll iċ-Ċentinarju tal-AIPS sa mit-twaqqif ta' din l-Assoċjazzjoni tal-Media Sportiva lura fis-sena 1924.

Tul il-Kungress saru diversi preżentazzjonijiet lir-rappreżentanti tal-media minn madwar id-Dinja minn ħafna Federazzjonijiet Internazzjonali fejn ingħataw l-aħħar dettalji dwar il-kompetizzjonijiet li hemm ippjanati fix-xhur li ġejjin.

Fost dawn, kien hemm preżentazzjonijiet mill-Kumitat Olimpiku Internazzjonali fejn ingħataw l-aħħar dettalji dawar l-Olimpijadi ta' Pariġi 2024, il-UEFA li tat l-aħħar aġġornament dwar il-format il-ġdid tal-kompetizzjonijiet tal-UCL, UEL u UECL kif wkoll il-European Athletics fejn dawn qed iħejju għall-kampjonat Ewropew tas-sena 2024 li se jsir f'Ġunju f'Ruma.

Preżentazzjonijiet oħra saru mill-UNESCO, mill-FISU, mill-IFBB, Special Olympics, u mill-Erasmus. Il-Kungress kien indirizzat b'mod interattiv wkoll mill-President tal-FIFA Gianni Infantino u mill-President tal-Federazzjoni Afrikana tal-Football il-CAF Patrice Motsepe.

Tul il-Kungress saret wkoll l-edizzjoni ta' din is-sena tal-AIPS Awards fejn ġew ippremjati l-aħjar xogħolijiet ġurnalistiċi sportivi li kienu ppublikati u mxandra fis-sena 2023.

Għal sena oħra l-Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sports kienet preżenti f'dan il-kungress permezz tal-President Sandro Micallef u s-Segretarju Ġenerali Lorraine Cunningham.

Id-delegazzjoni Maltija kienet parteċipi b'mod attiv tul il-kungress speċjalment wara li ġie ppreżentat il-kodiċi tal-etika l-ġdid tal-AIPS, fejn il-President Sandro Micallef ressaq xejn inqas minn ħames emendi li issa se jkunu qed jitressqu lill-Kumitat Eżekuttiv tal-AIPS.

Tul it-tlett ijiem tal-Kungress tal-AIPS ġie organizzata wkoll l-Assemblea Ġenerali tal-AIPS Europe il-fergħa Ewropea li bħalissa għandha l-Presidenza Maltija permezz ta' Charles Camenzuli. F'din l-Assemblea Ġenerali ġie ppreżentat ir-rapport amministrattiv u segwit diskussjoni dwar il-futur tal-media sportiva b'aċċenn partikoalri għall-aċċess liberu u sigur partikolarment għal-logħbiet organizzati mill-UEFA fejn f'dan l-aħħar xhur ġew irraportati diversi inċidenti l-iktar li jirrigwardjaw fotografi.

L-Assemblea Ġenerali tal-AIPS Europe kienet indirizzata għal xi minuti wkoll mill-President tal-AIPS Gianni Merlo.