The appointment of Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President Christopher Samuda to the International Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS) Festival Commission has been ratified by the body’s executive committee.

Founded in 1983 and with a current membership of 116, FICTS is headquartered in Milan, Italy, and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). One of its primary objectives is to promote values in sport through cinema and television and, in collaborating with the IOC Foundation for Culture and Olympic Heritage, it facilitates scriptwriters, producers and directors access to archival material and contacts with movie houses of production.

The international festival commission’s mandate is to evaluate project proposals and develop the “World FICTS Challenge Programme” an annual global competition involving the production of films and documentaries for cinema and television through which the Olympic values and sport culture are promoted.

Samuda will serve with Alicia Masoni de Morea (Argentina), Lisette Eijgelsheim (Netherlands), Renato Tullio Ferrari (France), Seyed Amir Hosseini (Iran), Dean Kibirige (Uganda), Pavel Landa (Czech Republic), Antonio Leal (Brazil), Nikolay Porokhovnik (Serbia), Sara Samori (Italy), and Jingni Wu (China).

“Jamaica has given me the opportunity to serve and break new ground in sport governance and administration for which I am grateful and so encouraged by the richness of our sporting culture and heritage and the wealth of natural talent that we possess as a people,” Samuda said in response to his ratification.

The World FICTS Challenge culminates each year in Milan with the worldwide final in which successful cinematic and television productions in sport shown in festivals in selected cities across five continents vie for coveted awards in an event widely covered by international media.