The ISSF President Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña awarded Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak with the ISSF Blue Cross, the highest honour bestowed by the International Shooting Sport Federation.
The ceremony took place today at the Club Cinegetico Jalisciense in Guadalajara (MEX), — where the ISSF World Cup Stage 1 is currently taking place — at the presence of the ISSF Secretary General Mr. Franz Schreiber, the ISSF Vice-President Mr. Gary Anderson
and, representing Her Highness, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Mr. Ahmed Almenhali, along with many other respected authorities.
“Ladies and gentleman, athletes and friends of our sport who are here today at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara,” said in his speech Mr. Vazquez Raña. “We welcome the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Mexico. We have invited him so he can do us the honour of conveying to Her Highness Sheikha Fatima the highest award of the ISSF.”
“This award is presented to Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the General Women’s Union, recipient of 30 awards bestowed upon her by the United Nations for her outstanding dedication to the development of women in her country and in the world,” he continued.
“For her generous support of women’s Shooting Sport in the United Arab Emirates, the ISSF Blue Cross, the highest honour bestowed by our Federation, is presented to Her Highness the Sheikha and we ask the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Mr. Ahmed Almenhali to please convey this award along with the gratitude of all female shooters in the ISSF,” Mr. Raña concluded.
The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Mr. Almenhali followed on the podium: “I’m very happy to be here today and to be able to convey an affectionate greeting from the mother of my country, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the General Women’s Union, as well as of the Foundation for the Development of the Family and of the Superior Council of the Mother and the Childhood.”
“Also, the sports authorities of the United Arab Emirates welcome this generous gesture that consists in recognizing the great work that your highness has done, for the benefit of sports and athletes, especially the work done in the world of women's shooting sport,” he added.
“I am also pleased to extend a special thank to the International Shooting Sport Federation, headed by Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña, with whom, in the name of the government of the United Arab Emirates, I hope to continue cooperating, in order to promote the female shooting sport and take it together to the broadest horizons, thus contributing to the empowerment of the female athletes, and meeting the goals of both the International Olympic Committee and of this distinguished Federation,” concluded Mr. Almenhali.