The IWGA Executive Committee (ExCo) gathered in Lausanne on 15 January 2024 to prepare for the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 1 May 2024 in Esslingen (GER).
The meeting kicked-off with a welcome message from President Perurena who informed the ExCo about his recent meetings with the Minister of Sport of China and the Governor of the Sichuan province. Treasurer Lukas Hinder then introduced Daniel Stehlin, new Chair of the IWGA Ethics Committee. The IWGA adopted the IWGA Code of Ethics in 2020 in an effort to promote and reinforce the highest level of ethical conduct in the pursuance of its organisational mission. Mr Stehlin will head this Committee moving forward together with previous established members.
The Medical and Anti-Doping Committee have been appointed and will start acting in 2024. The Marketing & Media Committee as well as the Athletes Committee then proceeded to share the latest developments in their respective areas.
The IWGA set up a seven-strong Athletes Committee in February last year to further reinforce the athletes’ representation within the organisation and provide recommendations in a significant number of matters. The establishment of this Committee represented a key step in the mission to keep athletes’ interests at the heart of The World Games. The current IWGA Athletes’ Committee has an interim status until September 2025. Definitive members of the Committee will be elected in 2025 by athletes taking part in the next edition of The World Games.
Additional major topics which were discussed on Monday included:
Finances
Treasurer Hinder reported a healthy financial statement for 2024, and a provisional 2025 budget was presented.
Chengdu 2025
Following an official visit last week in China, CEO Gossow and Deputy CEO Felli confirmed the Organising Committee’s commitment to promoting The World Games 2025 across China. Activation plans and promotional activities to be organised in the lead up to the Games were revealed, including a series of events across the country to engage with the youth and local communities.
Updates about communication were also given; social media is fully up and running, while the Organising Committee will launch their official website in February.
In parallel, the Organising Committee has opened a global contest for the design of the logo, mascot and slogan of the Games. The contest for the logo will run up until February 2024, while the new mascot and slogan will be unveiled in August 2024, celebrating the one-year-to-go mark.
The broadcast and images distribution were also discussed. ISB (International Sports Broadcasting), the IWGA’s official Games Host Broadcaster is currently conducting negotiation with CCTV (part of the China Media Group) and the Chengdu Local Organising Committee regarding the national distribution of images and a possible extended coverage of TWG.
Refugee team in Chengdu
In consultation with the participating IFs, the IWGA will loom into the possibility to include refugee athletes within the existing Qualification systems.
Sport venues and programme, and qualification
IWGA Sport Director Sebastian Garvens provided an overall update on the sporting matters. All sport medal events have now been announced, while the venues and competition schedule draft will be announced by the next AGM in May.
The qualification criteria are set for all sports, although date and location of qualification events haven’t yet been set from some International Federations. All information will be finalised by the next AGM. In addition, athletes’ and officials’ accommodation has been decided and confirmed.
Garvens also provided an update on the modification process of the Rules of TWG. Minor adjustments will be made to the IWGA Constitution because of the changes being implemented into the Rules of TWG.
Membership
Two new applications were received, from the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the International Cheer Union (ICU).
The Executive Committee agreed to review both applications to ensure compliance with all requirements before presenting them to the AGM where their inclusion will be up for voting.
The World Games Series
The IWGA President stressed again the importance in hosting at least the first stage of The World Games Series in the lead up of to TWG 2025. This Series would serve as a practice, and would promote the sports on the TWG programme ahead of the big milestone in August next year.
Collaboration with National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
The Executive Committee approved the proposed Memorandum of Understanding for the NOCs. This partnership would broadly strengthen the collaboration between the IWGA and the National Committees with the aims of providing further support to athletes in their respective countries, and raising the profile of The World Games to the next level.
Future Host City
A German city has communicated its interest to host the 13th edition of The World Games in 2029. An official announcement will be made in due course.
The Executive Committee will next meet on 10 April in Birmingham (GBR) in conjunction with the SportAccord Convention, while the next CoCom meeting will take place in Chengdu on 3-4 April 2024.
Among the attendees were all seven IWGA Executive Committee Members, IWGA President José Perurena, Vice President Tom Dielen, Treasurer Lukas Hinder, Members Anna Arzhanova, Volker Bernardi, Jan Fransoo and John Liljelund, as well as Athletes Committee Chair Sandra Sanchez, IWGA Ethics Committee new Chair Daniel Stehlin, CEO Joachim Gossow, Deputy CEO Guillaume Felli, Sports Director Sebastian Garvens and Media & Communication Director Anna Jacobson.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games 2022 was held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and 100 countries took part in the Games. The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu, CHN, 7-17 August 2025.
