IWGA increases cap on athletes able to compete at World Games

More athletes will be able to compete at the World Games and participating International Federations (IF) could receive a cash boost and a "new future strategy" was approved at the International World Games Association (IWGA) Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The IWGA AGM was held online yesterday.

After the proposal received "overwhelming support", the IWGA said it would now look to support the IFs taking part in the World Games and raise the cap on participants from 4,200 to 5,000.

"The strategy paper included concrete plans for the programme of The World Games," a statement from IWGA read.

"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 4,200 to 5,000, 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."

The AGM also saw delegates approve a change in IWGA’s membership rules.

An IFA delegation with President @j_verleger, SG Christoph Oberlehner and board member Roger Willen participated in today´s virtual The World Games Association Annual General Meeting. We congrat @TheWorldGames to this successful, first ever virtual IWGA Annual General Meeting. pic.twitter.com/R4E8u5nEqn
— News (@IFA_Fistball) November 6, 2020

Under the new protocols, only IFs that are members of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARIDF) can become "new full members" of the IWGA.

But current Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sports members are expected to be unaffected by this move.

IFs that are not members can still have their events selected by the AGM to feature on the programme of the World Games or other IWGA-run tournaments.

Other changes to the IWGA's constitution were approved, including the creation of affiliate status.

It was also amended to allow for "remote online meetings to be held in the future, should the circumstances require this".

The AGM took place online this year in light of the global health crisis.

"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," IWGA President José Perurena said.

"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."

Birmingham in the United States was set to hold the World Games next year, only for it to be moved to 2022 following the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 3,600 athletes from more than 100 countries are expected to compete in 33 sports at the 2022 World Games, which is scheduled to be held from July 7 to 17.