A Royal Passion for Art
A successful Story
Farewell to Ambassador Geerkens
Mongolia new visas regulations
The Embassy of Mongolia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands is pleased to inform that starting from June 25, 2014 till the end of 2015, the citizens of many European countries, including Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, travelling to Mongolia on touristic and business purposes, and staying in Mongolia for the period of less than 30 days, are waived from visa. Therefore we invite all people, including staff from diplomatic corps in The Hague, to visit Mongolia and experience rich national traditions and colorful culture of Mongolia.
Sports Law at ASSER Institute
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Is Sport Playing by the Rule of Law?
A Summer Programme by The ASSER Instituut
By Oskar Van Maren & Antoine Duval. The T.M.C. Asser Instituut, located in The Hague, is an inter-university institute specialised in international law. It conduces academic research of interdisciplinary as well as comparative nature, covering amongst others international and European sports law. The ASSER International Sports Law Centre (AISLC) was founded within the framework of the Instituut in 2002. It is one of the few academic institutions specialised in transnational sports law in Europe. The Centre’s activities include fundamental research, applied (contract) research, such as reports and studies for the European Commission or the Dutch government, consultancy and legal advice, publications, and the organisation of events. The Centre has recently stepped up its activities on social media, and provides daily newsflashes on sports law via its twitter account: @sportslaw_asser. We have also launched a new International Sports Law Blog on which we offer short commentaries on various transnational sports law subjects (e.g. Financial Fair Play, FIFA Governance or Olympic Agenda 2020). From 30 June to 4 July 2014, we hosted our second Summer Programme on International Sports Law. We welcomed 17 participants from all around the world for a week of lectures, workshops, debates and moot courts. The programme covered issues relating to doping, match-fixing, broadcasting rights, sports arbitration, EU free movement rights of athletes, social dialogue in sport, tax law and sport and the good governance of sport. A number of speakers were seasoned academics, though we carefully balanced the line-up by including a trade unionist, an EU Commission official, a Sports Governing Bodies representative, a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) arbitrator and a range of practising sports lawyers. The programme kicked-off on Monday morning with a very special keynote lecture by FIFA Presidential Candidate Jérôme Champagne. Champagne, an experienced diplomat and ex-FIFA official, outlined his views for FIFA’s future, offering a passionate plea for a better redistribution of football’s large financial resources and a democratisation of its “Government”. It was an opportunity for our students to engage directly with someone closely involved in the governance of the beautiful game. Many questions, and criticisms, were raised and Champagne was very willing to give his, at times controversial, point of view on most of them. Our aim was to bring FIFA, and more widely the world of Sports Governing Bodies, to our students and we feel we have very much succeeded in offering a useful glimpse at it. Over the next five days our participants faced a dense academic programme, while also getting to know The Hague and its diplomatic circles. Indeed, they sat in a number of lectures, but they also participated in a mock arbitration trial in front of a CAS panel (headed by a CAS arbitrator), had the opportunity to debate the (good and/or bad) state of sport’s governance with stakeholders, and learned directly from the pros how match-fixing is combatted in real life. Thus, this Summer Programme is not solely about grasping the legal subtleties of International Sports Law; it also aims at fleshing out this legal reality with practical insights Our participants had very different backgrounds, but as from now on they have one thing in common: a good grasp of the way International Sports Law operates and we are very proud of it. If you wish to find out more about the Summer Programme or future events organised by the ASSER International Sports Law Centre we encourage you to visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on twitter.The Dutch business sector gathered on The Pacific Alliance Focus Day
- Bernard Wientjes shared his views on The Pacific Alliance: “There are a lot of chances for the future for Dutch businesses”.
- Executives from Shell, Rabobank, KLM and Berson UV participated in the discussion panel.
- The Vice Minister of Business Development of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia presented the opportunities and challenges of this integration initiative.
Global Energy Now
Tax Exemptions
Naadam, Three Games of Men in Mongolia
This time we would like to seize a momentum to introduce a little bit about the ‘’Naadam’’- the main event to celebrate the National Day of Mongolia which is July 11, and one of the most famous and gorgeous festivals and holidays in Mongolia. The festival is also called “Three Games of Men” as it consists of three sports of strengths, wisdom and courage, namely wrestling, archery and horse racing which is much loved and most watched festival in the country.
Nowadays, Naadam is celebrated from July 11-13 nationwide and its main events are taken place in the capital city Ulaanbaatar where the Grand opening ceremony begins with a ride of soldiers dressed in medieval outfit, bearing Nine Banners of Changes Khan, and the President makes an official opening speech, followed by a spectacular performance of dancers and musicians in costumes representing all ethnic groups in Mongolia, which attracts many people from across the country and guests from abroad.
This year we are celebrating the 2223rd anniversary of the founding of the first Mongolian State, the 808th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire and the 93rd anniversary of the Mongolian People’s Revolution. Besides the main events of Naadam – wrestling, archery and horseracing competitions, many other activities such as ceremonies for showing respect to Chinggis Khaan and observation of National Flag Day, ceremonial concerts and cultural performances as well as knucklebone shooting tournament and variety of entertainments, including night shows and firework, are organized for the general public during these days.
Naadam festival is an ancient tradition and culture of Mongols with a history of almost 2000 years and profound links in everyday life of nomads who populate the vast territory of Mongolia. For nomads, who were roaming steppes and hills under eternal blue sky to herd a livestock, added with a necessity to hunt and sometimes to overcome not only natural severities but also to fight each other, it was essential to have good skills and mastery of riding horses, archery and even wrestling in order to survive. These skills and cum-savvies were of great value and help for Mongols to conquer and build the biggest land mass Empire the world ever knows.
Having Naadam as the State Ceremony dates back to the end of XII and beginning of XIII centuries when the celebration came into tradition since 1206 when the Great Mongolian Empire was proclaimed and Temuujin was enthroned as Chinggis Khaan. Since then, the tradition to celebrate Naadam has continued for centuries in one fashion or another, and survived many changes of overlordship.
With spread of Buddhism, Naadam was organized during ritual ceremonies to worship mountains cairns. There was also Naadam of ten overlordships, which survived until 1921. In 1922, one year after 1921 revolution, the first nationwide Naadam was organized in Ulaanbaatar and was recorded in history as an Army Naadam. Since then Naadam became an annual official celebration of the National holiday in Mongolia and organized every year in July.
Mongolian style wrestling is most popular sport in the country, and as historians claim, it was originated some seven thousand years ago. The technique and ritual of Mongolian wrestling is distinctly national. There are no weight categories or age limits. The contestants flap their arms in imitation of falcon, hawk and garuda and slapping on thighs showing the readiness to test their strengths without harbouring thoughts of revenge, regardless the outcomes of the match. The aim is to knock the opponent off balance and throw him down, making him touch the ground with his elbow and knee.
Traditionally, 512 wrestlers participate in the competition to test their strength and tricks while 1024 wrestlers may participate on the occasion of great anniversaries. Mongolian wrestling is untimed competition, usually composed of an average of nine rounds of fights. Those who lost are eliminated from further rounds and winners earn glorious titles depending on how many rounds they win in the national Naadam. A wrestler who wins five round earns a title of “Falcon”, one who wins six rounds gets the title of “Hawk”, the winner of seven rounds receives a title “Elephant””and of eight rounds the title of “Garuda”. The winner of nine rounds is called “Lion” and two times “Lion” becomes Champion. Every subsequent victory will add an epithet to the title of Champion like Supreme, Nationwide and Invincible.
Mongolian archery is unique and has been an integral part of nomadic life. Bows are very stiff and hard to bend. The method of making bow and arrow has retained the national tradition to date, and its making takes many days or years.
Traditionally, women were not competitive archers but in the last two decades they have been more and more included. The usual archery contest is between teams, each of 5-7 archers, aiming at a line of 33 leather cylinders from a distance of 75 meters for men and 60 meters for women in a series of knock-out rounds. Men shot 40 arrows and women 20 arrows. The number of target cylinders is reduced as tournament progresses until in the final there are only three. The distance, which was about 200 meters till recently, has been reduced to around 70 meters.
Judges stand to each side of targets, and each time the archer prepare for shot, they begin to sing ancient song ‘’uukhai’’. When the arrow hits the target, judges make a sign with hands to indicate the result. The winners at the national Naadam festival are granted the title of ‘’Mergen’’ (marksman or markswomen). Every subsequent victory at national Naadam will add an epithet to the title like Super, Miraculous, Most Scrupulous, Nationally Memorable and Invincible.
Horseracing also roots centuries back and has its Mongolian specifics. In average, 400 horses of six age categories, or 2400 horses participate in 2 days racing in Ulaanbaatar. It is surpassing 26 000 horses participate in a race all over the country. The length of each race is determined by horse’s age. Horses run for 20-30 km over open grassland with to set rack or course ridden by child over 7 years old.
The winning horse earns a title of ‘’Leader of ten thousands’’ and the top five horses in each class earn the title ‘’airgyn tav’’ and top three are given gold, silver and bronze medals. Hardening a horse for race requires skills and experience from a trainer who also is bestowed a titles depending on how many times the trained horse win or came into top five in national and regional competitions. A paean is recited for the winning horse as well as first five finishers.
In June 2003 the Parliament of Mongolia adopted a law on Naadam which states that “Naadam is a great traditional festival of the nation symbolizing sovereignty and independence of Mongolia”. Therefore, the Naadam is an important festival and cultural heritage of Mongols that had been preserved from ancient times from generation to generation, and deeply linked to the identity and very existence of the nation through its long history and traditions.
Summer in Mongolia is most favourable season in the year to travel and rest, while July is most visited time by tourists as Naadam takes place in this month. The Embassy encourages all of you to visit Mongolia and experience magic natural beauty and the great history of Mongolians, have first-hand information on recent economic developments and livelihood of modern Mongols.