The remotely held online Annual General Meeting of the International World Games Association (IWGA) yesterday approved a new future strategy for The World Games, with overwhelming support.
Only International Federations that are members of ARISF can from now on become new full members of the IWGA, but current ASOIF and AIMS Members of the IWGA will retain their Full Membership. Federations that are not members of the IWGA can still have their events selected by the AGM to feature on the programme of a single edition of The World Games – or of other events that the IWGA organises. These Federations are then granted temporary Affiliate status, as recommended in the strategy paper.
In addition to the membership matters, the strategy paper included concrete plans for the programme of The World Games. For example, the leading, sustainable, principle of The World Games remains that host cities are not required to build new facilities. The maximum number of athletes will be raised from 4200 to 5000, and the invitational sports programme will be replaced with a more flexible display programme. Additionally, the IWGA will move towards financially supporting the International Federations taking part in The World Games.
Following adoption of the new strategy the necessary changes to the IWGA Constitution were also approved, including the creation of Affiliate status. The Constitution was also amended to allow for remote online meetings to be held in the future, should the circumstances require this.
“I am very happy that we were able to hold our meeting remotely, and I thank our board and staff for their hard work in making this possible. Further, I would like to sincerely thank all our member federations for taking part in the meeting and discussing the important topics on the agenda. The changes to the constitution are a step in the right direction and I am happy that we and the federations agreed on the strategic principles for the future”, IWGA President José Perurena said.
The Annual Meeting also approved the new Code of Ethics and the new Anti-Doping Rules for The World Games 2022.
This year’s virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) fell under a special dispensation granted by the Swiss government for 2020 only. The meeting went smoothly with no technical problems, and all 37 member federations took part.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.