José Perurena will continue to lead The World Games family for the next three years. At the Annual General Meeting on 3rd May in Madrid, the delegates of the member federations present confirmed the 78-year-old in his office as President of the International World Games Association until 2026, with an overwhelming majority (93 percent). The Spaniard has led the IWGA since 2014.
José Perurena thanked the delegates for their trust. He later stated the goal of his third term: “Since the Games in Wroclaw 2017, the IWGA has been undergoing a transition period. Together with our Executive Committee, our staff and the support of our 39 member federations, we will finish this process with the Games in Chengdu in 2025. My goal has been, is and will be to establish the best possible environment for all of IWGA's integrated sports." The 12th edition of The World Games will take place in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China from 7-17 August 2025.
The new Vice President of the IWGA is Tom Dielen. The Secretary General of World Archery replaces Max Bishop in this position; Max Bishop did not stand for re-election after 17 years in office. José Perurena thanked the outgoing Vice President for his outstanding work and spoke of an era coming to an end. Lukas Hinder from Switzerland, Honorary Life President of the World DanceSport Federation, remains Treasurer of the IWGA. He has been looking after the IWGA's finances since 1998.
The delegates in Madrid confirmed the following as Executive Committee (ExCo) members: Anna Arzhanova (World Underwater Federation), Volker Bernardi (World Flying Disc Federation) and Jan Fransoo (International Korfball Federation) in their posts. New to the ExCo is John Liljelund (International Floorball Federation). The previous ExCo member Antonio Espinos did not stand for re-election in Madrid on Wednesday. José Perurena thanked the President of the World Karate Federation for his commitment and services to The World Games family.
The term of office of the new ExCo is limited to the three years until 2026. Usually the ExCo is elected for four years, until one year after the last edition of The World Games; the next term of office is only three years because the current term was extended by one year due to the pandemic. The Games in Birmingham, USA, originally planned for 2021, also had to be postponed by one year due to COVID-19 restrictions. A change of responsibilities before the Games seemed inadvisable.
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 in 2025.
