Historical success for WAKO

In the process of IOC recognition, between many activities which were intensive from the beginning of this year, yesterday, during the SportAccord Convention in Lausanne, happened the most important step moving towards IOC recognition.

WAKO is proud to announce that under the auspices of AIMS, which we are a member of, WAKO is now the part of the IOC family under the auspices of AIMS.

A historical MoU has been signed between the IOC, represented by IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach and AIMS, represented by its counterpart Stephan Fox.

AIMS, the umbrella group of 23 international sport federations, which are members of SportAccord, now have the right to be included in the “Olympic Movement Directory”.

AIMS proudly supports and promotes the vision and mission of the Olympic movement by sustaining and developing sports, importantly through the education of youth through sport and to continue to be credible in sport through applicable principles of the Olympic Movement.

The IOC acknowledges the role and leadership of AIMS, and its valuable contribution to support the Olympic Movement.

“I must thank the IOC President Dr. Bach for his vision, for his mission and for his support of sport and for the international federations which are striving to gain individual recognition by the IOC whom nevertheless work towards good governance and the overall development of sport for the good of society. Today, 23 international sport federations showed their gratitude to the IOC for the acknowledgement and for opening the doors to the non-Olympic recognised sports. A special thank you must also go to the IOC Sport Department for their professionalism, especially IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell and Head of the IOC Sports Partnerships Jenny Mann. ” – Stephan Fox, AIMS President.

AIMS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IOC and has become an officially recognized partner within the IOC alongside ARISF, AIOWF, and ASOIF . AIMS became the fourth IOC partner.

During the Convention, another important happening was held: IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach and President José Perurena of the IWGA signed important agreement about mutual support.

The document underlines the closer cooperation between the IOC and the IWGA which was set out in Recommendation 6.1 of Olympic Agenda 2020. This states “ …the IOC and the International World Games Association (IWGA) to closely cooperate regarding the sports programme composition and their respective evaluations.” The new agreement confirms that “the IOC recognizes the importance of The World Games as a multi-sport event and the IWGA is committed to developing its activities in the Olympic spirit and in conformity with the Olympic Charter. ”

The MoU explains the principles of how this overall cooperation can be further developed. One of these principles is that the IWGA accepts that only events that are not on the programme of the Olympic Games can be included in the programme of The World Games (TWG). The IWGA shall also ensure that only sports whose International Federations are recognised by the IOC or are already members of the IWGA will be included in the official sports programme of TWG.

The IOC agrees to grant patronage to Organizing Committees of The World Games and to provide technical assistance.

Furthermore, the IOC will provide its expertise and help to promote IWGA’s activities within the Olympic Movement and encourages the NOCs to support and assist their national multi-sport delegations taking part in TWG.

Part of the agreement signed on Tuesday is the assurance: “The IWGA shall continue to develop a close working relationship with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to facilitate education and testing programs, and doping controls conducted at The World Games according to the World Anti-Doping Code.

IWGA President José Perurena said after the signing ceremony:
“This Memorandum of Understanding tremendously enhances the status of The World Games. Working in cooperation with the IOC is essential for us to raise the level of competition and organization of our Games. I want to thank IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach for his enormous support and for working with on this document. It proves that we are a real part of the Olympic movement and a member of the Olympic family.”

WAKO is now an official part of the Olympic movement of sports with all the associated support services available to us and our members.

This is the crown of very hard work during last years.
WAKO’s official International relations Committee: Borislav Pelevic, Espen Lund and Roy Baker congratulates to all WAKO members this success which determines the future of our sport.

In the above picture WAKO delegates with Mr. Stephan Fox, AIMS President, showing signed document of IOC recognition

Photo no 1. IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach signing the Memorandum of Understanding with IWGA President, Mr. José Perurena.