World Military Games - different games, same fun

January 3, 2004

CISM officials expressed satisfaction with the recently concluded World Military Games in Catania, but the games had their share of difficulties, starting with lackluster spectator participation. 
 
Hungarian Olympic Champion in the modern pentathlon (1988), Janos Martinek fell from a third story hotel window and was seriously injured. Martinek was coaching the Hungarian modern pentathletes at the games.  Italian news sources originally reported the fall as a suicide attempt, citing reports of erratic behavior prior to the incident. Martinek was operated on in Italy, then taken back to a military hospital in Budapest with Hungarian sources saying that the cause of the fall was not known. No further reports on Martinek's status have been issued.

Seven athletes from Namibia and Sri Lanka left during the games, presumably to defect. In similar past circumstances, soldier-athletes have also been considered to be AWOL.

One other Namibian soldier, Seblon Shimwafeni, a boxer, was disqualified and sent home from the games after he wore a t-shirt into the ring praising Osama Bin Laden. CISM rules are very strongly against any use of the games for political reasons.  At the first games in Rome in 1995, the Libyan football team was sent home for wearing t-shirts with anti-American slogans while attempting to warm-up for a match.

Finally, after this games, Kenyan military sports officials were questioning how two Kenyan athletes got permission to switch from the Kenyan Military to the Bahraini military to run for Bahrain in the games.