Through the cooperation of ECI and the International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation, 'ECO Pahlavan' will be chosen for the first time in Summer 2019.
According to ECI public relations, on Tuesday, June 28, 2019, the initial agreement for organizing such competitions was made during a meeting attended by Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri, ECI president, and Mohsen Mehralizadeh, the head of the International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation.
According to this report, during the incumbent management period of ECI, special attention has been paid to the area of sports, as one of the important mediums of diplomacy, by the ECI president.
In this regard, suitable potentials of Zurkhaneh and Pahlavani sports as one of the common heritages in ECO region, led the heads of the ECO Cultural Institute and the International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation agree to sign an MoU for holding the first round of Zurkhaneh tournaments in Kish.
It is noteworthy that the ECI-Kish Cooperation Office was opened on April 04, 2019 in Kish Island and attended by Dr. Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, CEO of Kish Free Zone Organization, and Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, president of ECO Cultural Institute.
Implementation of policies set forth by Kish Free Zone Management to strengthen cultural cooperation, promotion of tourism industry, attracting tourists and utilizing ECI's potentials in the development of the international tourism sector in this coral island are among the objectives of the establishment of this office and selection of Kish, as the host to the 1st ECO Zurkhaneh Tournament, will be an important measure in this regard.