LAUSANNE, December 31, 2024 – 

Dear Colleagues,

We are now looking forward to a new year – the 2025 that we hope will be without anger and violence, and without war, because what is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria, and also in Sudan, and in other countries is not acceptable. I firmly believe that the new generation needs something else – hope. They need to create a new future, and to also believe in this future.
 
BORN IN 1924 Last year, we celebrated the Centennial of AIPS, because in 1924 in Paris, some of our colleagues had the great idea and foresight to create this association that is very important in the world now, because what we are organising is something that is really going deep in the society.
 
AIPS100 I want to remind you that one of the big successes of last year was the AIPS100; the 100 Olympic Stories told by 100 Young Reporters from 100 Countries in 100 Seconds. It was a platform full of success because the young generation has shown us that they are ready – that they are ready for a new task. They are ready because they believe in the future, and it is our duty to help them develop. 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION During the AIPS Centennial Celebration at UNESCO during the Olympic Games in Paris, we did something special. There were champions of the past, colleagues of the past, and of today who celebrated together with the same feeling for a united sport that can also help people find new peace, because sports journalism is creating new bridges for the next generation. 

AIPS SPORT MEDIA AWARDS We must continue to work, and especially, we have to continue to promote what we are doing – for example, the AIPS Sport Media Awards that have been a great success this year with 2065 submissions coming from 139 countries. This means that people believe in us, and we have to continue to work to defend our profession. That is important. 

CLEAN SPORT Is important because it’s fighting against match fixing, the manipulation of results, against doping, and it opens the minds of the next generation that they also have to fight because clean sport also means to have, maybe, a better society. For this reason, we must continue to work all together. 

Thank you everybody for your effort and see you during the year.