“The sport relations between the two countries go back decades, as there had been Hungarian coaches of several sports working in Kuwait back in the 1980’s. Also, the relationship between the two National Olympic Committees has been really friendly. This present agreement with the newly elected President, Sheikh Fahad, represents the friendly ties taking shape. We will iron out the exact details of the agreement at a later time this year at a meeting dedicated to this purpose. The most important elements will include organising sports camps, coach trainings and harmonising international efforts”, explained President Kulcsár.

Kuwait is an important player of the Olympic Family, as Husain Al-Musallam, Secretary General of the Kuwaiti NOC, has a central role in the international sport scene with him being the First Vice President of FINA.

Numerous former Hungarian Olympic Champions and prominent athletes went on to work in Kuwait: water polo coaches Dénes Pócsik and Gusztáv Varga, athletics coaches Gergely Kulcsár, Ágoston Schulek and József Szécsényi, football coaches Sándor Egervári, Imre Gellei, János Göröcs and György Mezey, handball coaches László Kovács, János Csík, Béla Fekete and András Németh, and fencing coach Mihály Fülöp.

Previously, the Hungarian Olympic Committee signed MoUs with the Algerian, Australian, Czech, Polish, Taiwanese and Vietnamese NOCs, moreover it also agreed on a partnership with the Russian Olympic Committee during the FIE World Fencing Championships organised in the 2019 European Capital of Sport, Budapest.

(HOC, Photo: HOC/Péter Szalmás)