Shammi Rana has been appointed Secretary-General, International Council of Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG)

Rana has been appointed Secretary-General, International Council of Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG)

Shammi Rana has been appointed Secretary-General, International Council of Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG). The goal of the International Council of Traditional Sports and Games is to assist governmental and non-governmental organizations in organizing and promoting traditional sports and games and official umbrella organization for Traditional Sports and Indigenous Games as well as organizers of traditional sports games and traditional sports-related international associations throughout the World.

In 2017, Rana was appointed as rapporteur of the UNESCO Traditional Sports and Games Ad Hoc Advisory Committee by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, In his UNESCO role, Rana promotes the mission of Traditional Sports and Games.

UNESCO supports Traditional Sports and Games as a vehicle to broaden intercultural awareness, enable youth development, advance ethical sports practices, and feature indigenous cultural practices around the world. That responsibility fits into UNESCO’s broader mission of building peace, eradicating poverty, promoting sustainable development, and encouraging intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, and cultural development.

Rana, who has more than 20 years of promoting experience at the top levels of professional sports has worked with state dignitaries around the world to promote political, social and diplomatic relations at the highest levels of government.

Rana added: “My goal will be to protect traditional sports and games from the kind of commercialization that negatively affects the cultural heritage and core values of traditional sports and games. I believe that traditional sports and games should be promoted in all parts of the world, especially where the resources are low.”

Shammi Rana concluded, “Traditional sports and games should be a tool for promoting tolerance, mutual understanding, respect, cultural diversity, and peace.”