'Sports aims to integrate people without discrimination'

Sports aims at encouraging people, rejecting any kind of discrimination, Christian Karembeu, a retired French international footballer, told an international convention in the Thai capital Bangkok.

Taking a seat at the Speaker's Corner of SportAccord 2018, held at the Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre in Bangkok, Karembeu said the essence of sports lay in its rejection of any discrimination among people.

"Football had given to me everything. So far, I wanted to give back to the football and to have the value to integrate, to boost people without any discrimination, without any gender," Karembeu said, "This is the aim of the sport."

Having started on April 15, the convention will run through the 20th. It hosts nearly 1,500 representatives from sports federations, associations and equipment companies, governments, regions, and cities for a series of meetings aiming to shape the global sport agenda for the years to come.

Mentioning his visit to a refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan, Karembeu said everybody had the right to access the same opportunities.

"When I have been to Zatari for the first time I didn't see them as refugees, I see them as human beings and so far they need to have the same tools as everyone, same games as everyone," he said.

He hopes that a world champion would rise from that camp one day, Karembeu added.

The six-day event hosted by the Sport Authority of Thailand in the Bangkok Convention Center includes a two-day summit conference, as well as a three-day exhibition represented by industries, sport organizations, governments offices, cities and events services. Special sessions will be devoted to health, socially responsible marketing, sponsorship, media management and technology.

The retired footballer, who is now a global ambassador to Fédération Internationale de Teqball (FITEQ) also shed light on the innovative fun game called Teqball.

"So far, I met a very innovative sport, also about the accessory, about the tool, very modern. Of course, this sport is part of the new generation," he said.

Karembeu described Teqball as "a dream come true", citing its power to include everyone.

He said Teqball had emerged as a sport upon his quest for fun after his retirement.

Combining soccer and ping pong, Teqball is an innovative fun game played on a curved table using body parts permitted in football.