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FIDE Honorary President Florencio Campomanes was presented with the
2008 General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF)
Spirit of Sport award on June 6 in Athens, Greece.
World Squash Federation President Jahangir Khan
and International Gymnastics Federation Technical Committee
President Patricia Wade were the other winners of the award which
recognizes the contribution of individuals to sports excellence.
“It’s an unexpected bonus,” said the
81-year-old Campomanes, who served as FIDE president from 1982 to
1995. He was the only Filipino to hold the highest position in the
world chess governing body based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Under the leadership of Campomanes, the number
of FIDE members increased from 82 federations to 114. He also
organized the Manila Olympiad (1992), World Championships (1978),
Interzonals (1976 and 1989), World Juniors (1974 and 1987) and
Women’s World Championship (1992).
As national champion, he competed in five Chess
Olympiads (Moscow 1956, Munich 1958, Leipzig 1960, Varna 1962, and
Havana 1966).
Campomanes studied political science at the
University of the Philippines in 1948 and earned his masters degree
at the Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island) in 1951. He had
doctoral studies at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., from
1949-54.
Past winners of the GAISF award were
International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch
(2003) and International Basketball Federation President Borislav
Stankovic (2004).
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