President Nikos Christodoulides has participated in a sports event that was held as part of the BeActive programme at the presidential palace on Monday.

Speaking at the event, the president said that Cyprus is one of the European Union countries where the BeActive programme, established under Cyprus’ first EU Council presidency in 2012, has recorded an increased participation among the public.

Christodoulides referred to the health benefits of sports, emphasising that they were “not only exercise” but rather “a way of living” and highlighted his own passion for sports which he said “lifts his spirit every day”.

President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee Yiannis Ioannou acknowledged the government’s support of sports events, saying that several new initiatives had been implemented.

He said that the current goal was to increase participation from 160,000 to over 200,000 people and added that approximately 1,000 actions were to be implemented in 2027.

The event was also attended by the Greek gymnast Eleni Petroulaki, who spoke about the benefits of sport and exercise in general.