Karembeu to be Games ambassador September 03, 2010
OFC ambassador and former France national team star Christian Karembeu will help to promote Pacific Games New Caledonia 2011.
The two-time OFC Player of the Year (he picked up the award in 1995 and 1998) has been chosen as an ambassador for the event, which will be held in his homeland from August 27 to September 10 next year.
The Pacific Games, formerly known as the South Pacific Games, is a multi-sport competition and participation is reserved exclusively for countries around the South Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963, when it was hosted in Suva, Fiji.
The Games have been held in New Caledonia twice before (in 1966 and 1987) and will return to capital city Noumea next year for their 14th edition.
The main part of World Cup winner Karembeu’s role is to spread the word about the event, in both the Oceania region and the rest of the world.
He is no stranger to such a task.
The former Real Madrid midfielder, now 39, has served as a FIFA ambassador for Oceania since hanging up his boots four years ago and has focused his efforts on promoting the development of the region, in particular his native New Caledonia.
He was honoured for his contribution to football in the Pacific with a jubilee match at Stade Numa Daly, Noumea, in 2008. A crowd of 10,000 packed into the ground to pay homage to Karembeu, who enjoyed a glittering 18-year career that included 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000 successes with France, and two UEFA Champions League titles with Real Madrid.
Despite playing for his adopted country, Karembeu is fiercely proud of his Pacific roots.
“I played for France and won many medals,” he says.
“I am proud of the team and what we achieved together. But I am also Oceanian, born in the South Pacific, and it is logical for me to acknowledge this part of my heritage.”
Karembeu is not the only sporting talent to be signed up as part of the Pacific Games ambassadorial team.
The five-strong group also includes world champion Olympic windsurfer Michel Quintin, Paralympic champion Pierre Fairbank and world record holding swimmer Diane Bui-Duyet, the most decorated athlete in the history of the Pacific Games.
Also involved is former high jumper Nyipiengo Passa, who made history by becoming the first flag bearer for New Caledonia at the inaugural Games in 1963.
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