IWGA President José Perurena travels to Birmingham, Alabama this week to view the progress in the preparations for The World Games 2021.
President Perurena, together with Vice President Max Bishop, Honorary President Ron Froehlich and CEO Joachim Gossow will be in Birmingham 14–17 December with a "very comprehensive" agenda for the first Coordination Committee meeting.
"The main objective is related to the Organising Committee, the sports programme and the invitational sports,” says Perurena. “Also, we will visit all the sports facilities that can be used for the Games.”
The World Games 2021 CEO DJ Mackovets is looking forward to presenting the status of the preparations in Birmingham. Mackovets says the budget for the Games at this point is an estimated $50 million. "This will be the largest, single private-sector corporate sponsorship development effort for any event in the history of the state of Alabama," he said. More than half of the funds needed to put on The World Games in Birmingham will come from corporate sponsors.
The organisers say that the Games could have a $256.5 million economic impact on the Birmingham region. The World Games 2021 Birmingham Foundation Board Chairman Jonathan Porter says: "The World Games are going to mean the world to our country. We have the chance to showcase the Magic City on behalf of the United States of America."
The IWGA delegation will also have a meeting with the newly elected Mayor of Birmingham, Randall Woodfin. "I have not spoken personally with Mayor Woodfin yet, but we know that the Mayor is very excited about the Games,” President Perurena says.
Mayor Woodfin has stated that the Games “will have the full support” of the incoming administration. “We are excited about The World Games 2021 being held in Birmingham,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for our city to showcase our great people and southern hospitality. Much work has already gone into making these Games the best ever.”
The World Games 2021 will be held 15–25 July 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The previous edition was held 10–20 July 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.
